Into The Wizarding World
by TennenPerm
Summary: One wish that would come true, what would you ask? Well, hardcore Potter fan that I am, I wanted only one thing. What wouldn't I give to live in the wizard world, to study in Hogwarts, be friends with golden trio? Little did she knew, that tonight was a special night, Gods were listening to her wish. She gets thrown to her fantasy but with a little glitch: She lost her memories!
1. Getting thrown with no memories

One wish that would come true. What would you ask? Well, it was very simple actually. Hardcore potter fan that I am, my teenage soul wanted only one thing. Yes, you guessed it right! What wouldn't I give to live in the wizarding world, to study in Hogwarts, to be friends with the Golden trio. That night, I was re-reading the Goblet of Fire. I wanted to take a break from all the home works that had piled up and ended up reading Potter books, again. I continued to re- explore the magical world, got so lost in it that when I looked up for the time, it was nearly 2 am. Usually I get yelled by my parents being a night owl, but tonight was special. My parents were gone visiting my uncle and aunts, for which I threw all kind of excuses for not including me in it and I got my way. Anyway, I reluctantly went to bed thinking about my health. I still didn't completed my assignments that was due tomorrow. _Well, technically it's today,_ I thought. _What boring home works! If I were in Hogwarts, and my home works were all magic then I would have completed every assignments in time. Hell, I would've begged for more assignments._ I laughed at my thoughts. Sigh. That would have been cool. I drifted into sleep with these thoughts.

Little did I knew that tonight was a special night, that Gods were listening to my, this specific, wish. I guess he was bored, I say he was utterly bored, that he decided, just for the fun of it, to grant me the wish. "Let's grant her the wish and watch what unfolds." Said one of the god. Let just address him as God 1, for the time being.

"Why not! Let us try this too. I'm bored anyway so…" trailed of another one (God 2).

"What is this book anyway? Have you read it?" muttered God 3. "You didn't? What were you doing when Rowling was writing it? Weren't you paying attention to job (of being omniscient)?" God 1 disapproved.

"Hey, I thought you were covering that for me!"

"Anyway" God 2 said wryly, "Shall we continue with the plan or you both just want to argue and bore me to death!"

"No, No. We are good."

"Proceed then."

The girl woke up from her slumber to the sound of some hushed voices. _'Who the hell is disturbing me from my beloved sleep.' She thought, trying to slip again into her peace but 'God' wanted different things._ From last night onwards, she had become a favorite toy of certain 3 mischievous Gods.

She cursed and open her eyes. "What the hell?" words escaped her mouth. _'I am outside? What the hell am I doing outside?'_ She eyed her surroundings as her brain continued to question her situation. _'And who are these people?'_ Before she could make her questions to form out of her mouth, she got questioned.

"Are you alright?" "Are you hurt?" "What are you doing outside?"

These were some of the questions she actually able to hear in all the muffled noises those 'founder of a mysterious girl' people were making.

"I am good, I think. No, I am not hurt, not that I know of. And do you really think I would be here sleeping on the ground if I knew the answer of your last question." Her eyes adjusted to the soft moonlight now that she could see her rescuer.

"Okay, sarcasm. I think it is safe to assume that she did not hit her head." Said the boy with the black hair, longer than the other three. He could be considered more handsome if he was not covered with all the dirt and a few _bruises! Oh, God! Am I seeing right!_

"What's your name?" asked another black haired one, now offering me his hand to stand up. I frowned at his question as I took his hand. "I am ̶ " I stopped. A sudden panic arose from my stomach. "I can't remember my name…" I whispered. _I can't remember my name. Shit. Who am I? Where am I?_ I asked myself as panic rising like a full grown tornado inside me. Nothing. I got nothing from me. I started to hyperventilate, feeling hollow all of a sudden.

"Oh, Merlin! She is having panic attack!" One of them yelled, their eyes widened as they detected the symptoms. "Do something! She is struggling to breathe…" anxiousness taking over them.

"Stupefy!"

She collapsed at one of them. "Prongs! You stunned her!" said the black haired boy, not believing what his friend had done.

"It's efficient this way. Also, we didn't knew how to handle panic attacks." The boy with dirty blond hair reasoned with them all innocent like, who was, by far, in the worst condition: he was exhausted, bleeding, bruised and all covered in dirt. "Let's take her to the Hospital wing. Pomfrey would know what to do with her."

Slowly they reached the castle limping and helping each other. They took one of the rarely discovered shortcuts to the hospital wing to avoid any confrontation with another human being.

"Madam Pomfrey?" They knocked on the door. Once. Twice. The door flew open. Inside stood a middle aged, kind looking lady in a sleeping gown. "What is it dear? Is someone hurt ̶ " she gasped at the sight: Four boys Most of them injured, one limping, and other two carrying an unconscious girl.

"Come on in, you all!" She said worriedly. "Mr. Lupin! Oh dear Lord… tonight is the night. Isn't it? What happened to the poor girl?" She asked as she helped them towards empty beds. "Did… did she, by any chance…" She couldn't complete her sentence, dreading at her own thoughts. "No, No Madam Pomfrey. I didn't attacked her…" his voice sounding guilty for no reason. "…She . . . We found her unconscious outside the castle. I think something has happened to her. She can't even remember her name which resulted her in panic attacks. We didn't knew how to deal with her so, James stunned her."

"Hey! Don't blame everything at me. You agreed to it too!" James showing his antics even in his bruised condition.

"Hmm… you did what you felt was right. Don't worry. I'll take care of her." Then she performed some incantations to heal their minor cuts and gave a potions for their internal bruises. The four boys left for their dorms as the nurse continued with the healing process on the girl.


	2. Enrolling in Hogwarts

The girl opened her eyes. This time she was inside. On a bed, by the looks of it, maybe a hospital bed. She sat up and observed her surroundings. _Wow… this room is massive!_ Looks familiar. _Just like Hogwarts._ She laugh at her thoughts.  
Just then the kind nurse entered with a potion in her hand. "You are awake dear! Here, take this. It will make you feel better."  
The girl eyed the potion skeptically but decided to take it just for the gesture. Her parents always said not to take anything from strangers and she agreed on it.  
"Do you remember who you are, my dear?" the nurse asked kindly. "I… I am not sure." She frowned at her answer but did not panicked like before. "Did you remember what happened before?" She asked again.  
"Umm… I was outside. I got stunned… Someone did that to me. There were four boys…" and she trailed off. "Where are those boys?" She was confused. She looked at her. "Where am I?" "And who are you?" _She look familiar. Why?_ Then it clicked, like she knew the answer all along. Her eyes widened. "Am I in hospital wing?" "This is Hogwarts." This time it was not a question. It was a realization. Somehow she knew this specific piece of information.  
"Um… are you alright? You look like you are dazed. Sleep it off dear. It's night time and you are exhausted." She smiled and went to her office/ room to rest.

The girl sighed and decided it was best for her to sleep. _What has happened to me? This is definitely a dream. It will all end when I wake up tomorrow. So, sleep it off. I will deal with it tomorrow whether it is reality or dream. Sleep is more important._ She closed her eyes. It was then she realized how exhausted she was, as she got engulfed immediately in the land of her unconsciousness.

_  
The girl woke up early that day, to the same bed where she was last night, earlier this morning. She remembered her name as soon as she opened her eyes. It was like someone was directing her memories to her, piece by piece, whenever she was in need. *Gods evil laughing*  
She is now sitting on her allotted bed waiting for someone. Earlier that morning, the nurse, Madam Pomfrey, as she introduced herself, came to her and said that she will be meeting the headmaster for the whole ordeal that happened last night.  
The hospital door opened and a man entered. The girl had never met before but he still looked strangely familiar. _Albus Dumbledore_ , the headmaster. _She knew him_. She showed her respect by standing up and greeting him. Dumbledore was bemused.  
"Ah, thank you for your respect, Miss." Dumbledore said with the same familiar twinkle in his eyes.  
"My pleasure, Sir." She smiled.  
"Madam Pomfrey has told me about you and yesterday's incident." He started, his voice now serious. "Do you remember you name now?"  
She nodded and replied, "Artemis Hale."  
He smiled in return. "And do you remember this place, Miss Hale?" She again nodded and said, "Yes Sir. This is Hogwarts."  
"Do you recall studying here? Or anything?"  
Artemis focused harder to strain my memories. Nothing came. A pained expression crossed my face. "Bits and pieces only. I remember some hallways, some faces, but nothing more." She stammered while speaking. She felt alone without her memories. Dumbledore sensed this, for which he said, "Don't worry my child, we all are here for you. We will find your memories." He smiled at her which she returned with the same.

_  
Headmaster Dumbledore was in his office with Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall. A grave expression was reflecting Dumbledore face.  
"I'm afraid, we have a difficult situation here." He started. Professor McGonagall now wore the same expression as Dumbledore.  
"Miss Hale's case is becoming quite intriguing. She has unfortunately lost her memories apart from bits and pieces. The real problem is, so do we. For some peculiar reason, nobody in Hogwarts also remember her. It is like every memory related to her has been somehow wiped off clean."  
"But Albus, how is this even possible? An outsider can't perform this kind of magic inside the school. The school is protected. And I'm certain nobody here would have done something appalling like this."  
"Exactly." Dumbledore exclaimed. "Which is why there is another possibility. It is possible that she could be an outsider."  
McGonagall gasped. "You mean to say like death eaters? Trying to spy on us?"  
"Not likely. Voldemort is clever. He would not take such a rash decision. I'm talking about something different. It's interesting but highly unlikely." An amusing tone edging in his voice.  
"You are not saying that some girl somehow found Hogwarts, read about it or acquired knowledge related to it, lost her memories and now trying to enter here?" McGonagall scoffed at her own fairytale story. She saw the same amused expression on Dumbledore. She scoffed, "Albus! This theory is outrageous. It has too many flaws. You don't believe in it. Do you?"  
He said with a chuckle, "One should always keep his options open."

After the discussion, it got decided that bringing back Artemis Hale's memories would be the first priority and sending back to her daily routines would be a good trigger. That is how she gets enrolled in Hogwarts as an exchange student from Salem Witches Institute. Only a handful people knew the actual story behind it: The headmaster, the Deputy headmistress, the nurse and the four boys.  
"You called professor Dumbledore?" Remus Lupin asked as he entered the headmaster's office along with his other three friends.  
"Please, do enter." Dumbledore gestured. The four boys entered. It was the same as they remembered the last time they were there, paintings, portraits covering almost every wall of the office, more spindle legged tables, fragile looking glass stuffs sitting on it, pretty much the same.  
"Did someone complained about us, Professor? Because I'm being honest here, we haven't even started with our plan A yet." James Potter said innocently as he took his seat opposite of Dumbledore but got only a chuckle in a reply.  
"Ah, good to know that you are onto your mischief yet. But that's not why I called you all." He waited to observe their reactions. After a while he continued, "It is about Miss Artemis Hale."  
"Sorry, who?" Sirius Black questioned sounding utterly confused.  
"She is the girl you all found unconscious outside the other night." All of them straightened their back showing their attention. "It seems everybody here has forgotten who she is. So, we are enrolling her here in the fifth year as a new transfer student. She still does not remember anything apart from her name. You four are the only ones who know her true story so you have to make sure she goes through this without anybody finding about her amnesia."  
They slowly nodded as they try to take all the information in. "You all should return to your classes now. I do not wish to prevent you from gaining your knowledge any more than I already had." He smiled and gestured towards the door.


	3. Family Friend?

Soon the night came. It was a regular normal dinner until the headmaster stood up and called for their attention.  
"Good evening children. If I am not wrong, you all were wondering why you are being disturbed at the middle of the dinner. But I have an important news to announce. Tonight, a new student will be joining us in our journey of education. She will be joining in her fifth year from Salem Witches Institute. I hope you all will welcome Miss Artemis Hale and make her feel at home."  
The Hall was quiet except for an occasional clatter of the cutleries. Everyone's thinking the same thing: 'why would anyone get transferred two months late.'  
"Professor McGonagall, if you please."  
Professor McGonagall emerged from the back chamber of the great hall with the Sorting Hat and the stool and a small girl following right behind her. Well, she was small for a fifth year. She hardly crossed 5' 3'' mark, her barely touching shoulder length hair made her look younger than she already was. She quietly sat on the stool as McGonagall placed the Hat on her.

Artemis p.o.v.  
"Hmm… peculiar. I can and can't sense magic from your blood all at the same time. This will be hard…. Let's see. Ambitious…not so much." _That I knew, always need someone to push me through, I smiled. "_ Somewhat scrappy…Ah! You are creative. Could do nicely in Ravenclaw. But I see Adventurous, daring, hmm…" I grinned recalling a certain dare where I almost broke my shoulder. "….Perhaps you will do better in GRYFFINDOR!"  
Everyone in the Gryffindor table roared with applause as I joined them at their table.  
"Hi. Lily Evans." A red haired girl sitting across me introduced herself.  
"Hi. I'm Artemis Hale."  
"I'm a prefect so if you have any problems or questions come to me. I'm always here to help." She shook my hand with a big smile.  
"Let me introduce my friends." Lily said gesturing beside her. "She is Alice Fortescue-" a brunette girl on her left waved her hand, her mouth was already filled with food that she was glared down by Lily, the look that said she would be murdered if she dared speak like that.  
"-and she is-" she motioned to a girl beside me. "-I am Marlene Mckinnon." The girl cut off Lily mid-sentence. "We all are fifth years. Welcome to Hogwarts and congrats making into Gryffindor. It's the best house here!" She proudly announced.  
We all chatted through the dinner, all firing me questions like 'why transfer now?' or 'Did you get expelled from the last school?' etc. It felt like police interrogation to me but their inquisitiveness were so adorable that I didn't mind it at all. As we headed toward Gryffindor common room, I got introduced to many people, the names I forgot almost instantly _yeah, I'm not so good with the names._ All the while Lily's live commentary was on a full flow, she was on and on about the Hogwarts which was quite interesting until she tutted me when I wanted to ask even one question.  
"…So here it is! The Gryffindor common room-" She gestured at the very end of the corridor, where a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress was hanging.  
"Password?" she said. "Caput Draconis," said Lily, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. We all went through it and there I saw a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.  
 _Why? It feels so familiar… like I have been here many times before._ Then suddenly, I felt the similar shock of electricity running down my spine as yet again a bit of memory came back to me. _This room… Gryffindor common room. I clearly remember sitting in this chair working on my moonstone homework… here, on the floor playing exploding snap… with... someone. Black hair… round glasses.. who is he?_

I came back to reality when I heard a voice calling. "EVANS! Go ou-"  
"No Potter."  
A boy with a very messy black hair approached us. He looked somewhat like my memory minus the glasses.  
"You don't even let me finish my question!"  
"I knew exactly what you gonna ask. But look at the plus side, you didn't get to waste your precious voice on me. Instead you can use it on one of your fangirls who gives you any damn. Now stop bothering us-"  
"You were there! That night… I saw you-" I blurted out, seeing the boy in front of me.  
"Artemis! Hey, come here! Good to see you again!"  
I got cut off and was being dragged by another boy whom I saw the other night. "What's happening, Potter? Do you know her?" I heard Lily ask the Potter boy. "Ah, don't worry. She is a family friend. We are just catching up. Nice seeing you Evans. I'll talk to you later." He said hurriedly and caught up to us.  
I was dragged all the way by the window where the other two boys were sitting.  
"Hey, stop it! What the hell are you doing? You don't have to drag me. If you had said I would have walked all by myself!" I said, aligning the creases on my skirt.  
"I didn't had any choice. You were there spilling our secrets in front of others. I had to drag you!" said the other boy with black hair. The not messy one.  
"So what's your deal?" I said crossing my hands.  
"You can't tell anybody about that night. You don't tell ours and we don't tell yo-"  
"Okay."  
"That's it? Just like that?" they stared at me in disbelief.  
"Why not? It's your secret. Who am I to tell? What you do at night with all those bruises is totally your business. It was my mistake to let lose my tongue without thinking. I apologize for that." I said with a smile. They were bemused by my cooperation.  
"Thank you for understanding, and not asking a single question." The boy with scars on his face said, his smile was so genuine that I couldn't help but smile back.  
"Why don't we start over? I'm Remus Lupin."  
"James Potter"  
"Peter Pettigrew"  
"I'm Sirius Black." I shook their hands and introduced myself. "Artemis Hale."  
 _Ah! Again that sensation. I knew them, I'm sure about that._ "-are supposed to help you bring back your memories. It is was Dumbledore suggested and I think-" _Potter… Potter. Harry Potter?_  
"Artemis? Hey, you listening?"  
"Hmm? Yeah, I'm listening. What did you say again?" I felt guilty tuning them out.  
Sirius narrowed his eyes skeptically but continued nonetheless, "Do you really not have any memories of Hogwarts or any of us?"  
"I have some. I remember bits and pieces of it, like I remember this common room and one time me doing potions homework and one very specific time in hospital wing." I recalled that time that had something to do with quidditch and skelegrow.  
"How strange it is that we all remember nothing about you. Maybe we were friends or maybe not. Maybe we played quidditch together! You know what, I will give you a Hogwarts tour tomorrow. That ought to trigger your memories!" James beamed. I thanked him for his thoughtfulness and proceeded towards the Girl's dormitory mentioning that it is getting quite late and I am feeling tired from the long day.  
"Oh, and just so you know, you and I are supposed to be family friends. I told Lily that. So you have to go with it." James called back.  
I gave him a thumbs up and walked up the stairs.

Sirius watched Artemis going up the stairs, an annoyed expression crossed his face. Remus noticed this so he asked, "and what's got your knickers in a twist?"  
They too got on their feet and advanced towards the Boy's dorm. Sirius turned to look at Remus with the same expression, now adding a confused look too. "What the hell is wrong with that girl?"  
The question took the other three boys with a surprise, they seemed to get well with the girl. "What? She seemed nice enough. Even Peter was comfortable enough to talk to her and he is always nervous." Remus answered him, now reaching to open the door of their room. Peter agreed somewhere at the back but Sirius didn't noticed him.  
"She didn't paid attention to what I said. Hell, she didn't even looked at me twice." Now throwing himself onto his bed and continued. "Girls don't do that. They go all swooning at my sight! I say something is wrong with that girl."  
"She has lost her memories, Padfoot. What do you expect?" Remus replied, undressing himself to put on pajamas.  
"Prongs, what do you say?" choosing to ignore Remus and turning towards James.  
"I don't know. She was doing fine with me and I am definitely sure she was paying attention to what I was saying." James said with a mocking smile on his face. "I think your charm is wearing off." Now literally laughing at his face. Soon Remus and Peter joined too, although Peter just laughed weekly. "I think Prongs right. You are losing your touch." Remus added, laughing more at the sour expression on Sirius's face than the joke.  
"I am definitely not losing my touch! I'll show you all."


	4. Sirius's efforts and Memory Potion

"Open the door, Padfoot, we are gonna be late! Stop hogging the shower!" James said as his knocking turned into violent blows on the bathroom door. This went on for another ten minutes, after which Sirius emerged as if nothing has happened. He put on his ironed uniform, folded the sleeves three- quarters and put on his favorite hair gel. Unlike the other days he was really putting an effort to get ready for today's classes and this change didn't get unnoticed by his best friends.  
"Today is not your birthday, nor any party to attend to (otherwise he won't be wearing his uniform, Remus added from the back) or any special date. Then why are you dressing up so much? Trying to impress McGonagall?" James said with a smirk.  
"Say anything you want my friend, but today, I'll show you that I haven't lost my touch like I promised." Sirius said as he took his school bag, puffing his chest like a balloon, his eyes fixed somewhere on the ceiling. Remus rolled his eyes at his friend's antics. "Today you'll witness that I was, am and always be the charmer, the heartthrob of Hogwarts have ever–"  
"Shut your blabbering and come with us or we will definitely be late." Remus said smacking him on his head and James dragging him out of the room.  
Sirius's effort of grooming himself unquestionably made a strong impact on the girls. They sighed as he walked past them, some were even giving him flirty winks. Sirius was clearly enjoying all the attention he was getting.  
"Did you see that how all those girls were giving looks at me? They all want me, can't resist me." Sirius beamed with triumphant look, "Or do you all need more proofs to know that I am still the charmer?" Now sitting on their usual seats for the breakfast.  
"Yeah, you are right. You are the 'Charmer'." James said making air quotes. "Let's see how you do with the one for which you started all this madness…which brings us to my favorite topic. Where is my Lily pad?" James looked very funny, with his mouth full with waffles and trying to search for Lily without standing, like a meerkat.  
"Your Lily pad is not at all related to this topic. I did all this for Ar –" Sirius cleared his throat as he corrected his sentence, "for _you all_ to understand the fact that I still can woo any women I want."  
By the time they finished with their food, the great hall was almost empty but still they made it to the Transfiguration class five minutes early all thanks to the short cuts laid throughout the Hogwarts. As they entered the classroom, Sirius saw a certain someone and renewed his act. He pranced across the room towards the second bench with James following him closely ('God, he started his act again' Remus face palmed).  
"'mornin' Marlene." Sirius said as he and James sat on one bench behind them. "Hey Arty." James nodded to Artemis.  
"Hey Sirius, James."  
"Good morning James, Sirius." Artemis perked. "I didn't saw you boys at the table."  
"Ah, it's nothing. We woke late." Sirius said airily.  
"No, it's because someone thought it would be a great idea to hog the shower till the last minute." James accused him.  
"Hey, you had your chance, you simply wasted it sleeping. You, mate, should correct your ways–"  
"Are they always like this?" Artemis asked Marlene from the corner of her mouth. "Yeah, you should learn to ignore them. We all do." Marlene answered.  
" –which is definitely the only good point. What do you say Ar–"  
"Shssh…. Professor is coming!" Artemis interrupted him as she straightened herself as McGonagall entered.  
Aand it happened again. Sirius was so shocked to believe it happened again.  
"She…She shushed me!" He whisper- shouted at James. "She ignored me again! How could she?"  
"Umm, she just did, like that." Remus replied, snapping his fingers, working hard to keep a straight face as he leaned forward so that only Sirius and James could hear him.  
As the class progressed, Sirius's line of sight wandered many times towards Artemis. At first it was just curiosity of knowing what was she doing, but when he saw her writing something other than the work McGonagall had distributed, he got intrigued. He peeked at her notebook as inconspicuously as possible but he only managed to pick a few words before she put it in.  
Artemis P.O.V.  
The class ended with a lecture on O.W.L.s again by Prof. McGonagall and an essay on 'Technicalities of half- vanished things and How to correct them'. I collected my books and quills and stuffed it in my bag ready to leave when Professor McGonagall called me. Lily and Alice were waiting for Marlene and me at the door. I told them to go on without me as I headed up the teacher's table.  
"Yes, Professor McGonagall."  
She waited for the few lingering students to clear out and then started, "Miss Hale, I know you are in a tough spot considering that you lost your memories, but you are an O.W.L. student and you have to keep up with the other students." McGonagall advised me, her eyes were now softened with concern. "I would advise you to get help from Mr. Lupin for any notes or problems. He is one of the bright students in your year, he will definitely help you. And of course I am always more than ready to help you in any event that may occur."  
"Sure I will, Ma'am."  
She gave me a motherly smile before saying, "Now hurry up or you will get late for your next class."

I was running futilely with no idea where I was going. I asked for the direction to Potions class from a few students and thanks to them I finally managed to find it. I glanced at my wrist watch. I was twenty minutes late to the class. _Shit, First day in Hogwarts and you're already showing your tardiness. Great._ As I reached my destination, I slowed down my pace, smoothened my hair, and I knocked, pushing the door ajar.  
"Yes? Do you want something, Miss?" Professor snapped.  
"Apologies for my tardiness, Sir, but I am here for the class." I replied, a bit nervous as I felt all eyes upon me.  
"You have some nerves, young lady, to come this late for my class. You will be serving detention tonight with me. Do you understand?" the Potions Professor yelled at me. I stood frozen for god knows how many minutes before I collected my wits and slipped onto the nearest empty seat. I was shaking, literally. I never had been yelled at, not that I knew of, let alone by a Professor.  
"Don't take it to Heart. He is never this mad, he is actually a funny man, Professor Slughorn. He is just pissed off because someone put a dungbomb at his chamber earlier this day." I turned at the voice and gave him a weak smile. Remus Lupin was sitting beside me.  
If he is making all these up just to cheer me up then he is doing a hell of a job. I smiled at him and said, "It's nice of you to say that, even if it's just to cheer me up."  
"Oh, it's true. It's these jerks' doing." Remus said as he motioned in front of us. I saw James, Sirius and Peter sitting.  
"I'm so sorry Arty. I never imagined –" Sirius and James started.  
"It's alright guys. You would have never guessed this would happened." I said with a smile and started with the work Slughorn has assigned us. We were making Draught of Peace. I started to work on it however late than others. It was the first potion I was making in my life and it was hell difficult. It was nerve wrecking, stirring the potion at the precise time, adding the ingredients in correct order, It was simply nerve wrecking. Mere half hour had passed and my hands were shaking. _This is not good. How am I going to survive here if I can't manage to do even this!_  
"Geez, ask for help if you need." I turned to Remus as he started to tend to my cauldron. I simply stared at him, now that he was trying to fix my potion. "Stop panicking. Nobody's gonna judge you on your potion making skills when it is your first time making any kind of potion."  
"There. It's fixed somehow, it was not bad for a first timer." Remus said. "You can continue from here." With one last smile he went back to his own work.  
Somehow the class ended, we submitted our sample for the grading and headed out of the dungeons.  
"Thanks Remus, I was having a nervous breakdown back there. It was hard to concentrate when all your mind is filled with Prof. McGonagall's advice that sounded more like warning." I said, now walking towards the great hall for lunch.  
"Wait, McGonagall gave you a warning?" said James.  
"It was an advice. Like I said, it just sounded like one." I corrected him. "…which brings me to my next need of favour from you." All four of them looked at me at once as I didn't mentioned whom I was talking to.  
"I need your help with the studies Remus."  
"What about us?" protested Sirius, now gesturing to James and himself. "We are good at studies too." James nodded with him.  
"and do any of you have any previous years notes to help me?" they both stared at me blankly so I continued, "Remus, sorry to bother you but I am in desperate need here. McGonagall said you are one of the brightest students in our year, and I am not exaggerating." I could see a hint of smugness on his face but he remained calm. "If I don't do this then I won't be able to survive this academic year."  
"Hmm… Sure." Said Remus as we walked into the great hall. "I'll help you. I do have notes from the last year and the one before. I can't say about the first two. But don't worry. I'll try to find it."  
"Oh! Thank you so much! You are a life saver." I hugged him. It took him by surprise but he still managed to return the hug.  
"Artemis! Over here." Alice called over from the table to which I nodded. "I'll see you guys later." I said to the boys and rushed towards my girl gang.

Sirius P.O.V.  
I saw Artemis hug Remus as she expressed her thanks to him. _Oh, look at her go all chummy with Moony. It annoys me more than anything. I still hadn't forgave her for shushing me._ 'No one shushes me' a proud bug inside Sirius called forth.  
We were eating lunch at our usual seat when I saw Artemis talking to a Hufflepuff asking for the direction of the Hospital Wing. She was not that far from us so I could almost hear her what she was saying. It seemed no one else had taken notice of her. I watched her exit the great hall, waited for five minutes then stood up startling my friends. "I have an errand to run. I'll see you later at Divination." And before anybody could say anything, I left for the hospital wing.  
 _'_ _Stupid girl, she is gonna be lost again, leaving alone like that when she clearly doesn't know Hogwarts any better than a First year.'_ As I suspected I found her totally in a different location. I walked up to the lost girl and said, "Whom did you ask for the direction that lead you up here? Hospital wing is way down there." I motioned my finger to my left.  
Her face showed signs of relief first when she saw me, but then her eyes narrowed, "How did you know that I am heading to Hospital wing?"  
"Simple. I guessed it." I said, to which she smiled.

"Good, you are here. Just wait here for a moment till I bring you your potion." And Madam Pomfrey hurries towards her office. We waited for her as I looked around; it was all empty except for one bed at the far end. "Here you go, dear. Now, I am saying this very clearly so remember it: you have to drink this potion every alternate day. You can't skip it, alright?"  
She only nodded at her demand; I didn't hear much as my whole focus was concentrated on the small glass of transparent blue liquid that she was to drink. To be honest, I didn't liked the smell of it and I sure don't know how she managed to drink that potion. I saw her eyes went out of focus when she drank it. Pomfrey told me that the effect of the potion should kick in gradually in a few minutes. She would feel a bit dazed but that's only because this is her first time taking it.  
We thanked her as we head out to our next class: Divination. We managed to reach the class just in time. Professor Verona was a lenient teacher, she just waved her hand to settle down as she saw us scuffling at the back. James, sitting at the adjacent crystal topped table of two with Peter, waved at us, to which Artemis returned back with a little too enthusiasm. _So now the potion kicks in, I thought._ The whole class was dull with the exception of Artemis. She kept me entertained with her whimsical potion-influenced acts and it only ended when Professor asked the students that we had to submit a prediction with crystal gazing at the end of the class for marking. I had already given up on the gazing and was making something up from my mind; Artemis, on the other hand, was gazing it for almost three minutes before she said, "This is a load of crap. Some irony this is; I don't even know my past and yet here I am deciphering my future from a –" I saw her freezing in the mid- sentence, her eyes was out of focus like before. I knew something was happening to her because of the potion. _Did the potion work? Is her memory coming back to her?_  
"Artemis… Arty?" She only 'hmm' in response. "Did you remember something? You did, didn't you?"  
She nodded, a feeling of excitement began to build up in my stomach. "I saw a… petronas, a stag…. A black dog, bigger than an average one… and something very small can't pin point what it is; keeps moving too much….black lake… Soul…? What is the meaning of these –"  
And then she went silent.

Artemis P.O.V.  
 _I remembered. Black dog, stag ….petronas, the rat, and the werewolf. I now knew what or who they were. But that's not the reason I am feeling numb. I remembered something else. The night when someone fell… beyond the veil._


	5. Dinner', acceptance and inner circle

God 1- P  
God 2- A  
God 3- K  
"Guys! Come here. Fast! Something major happened." K called out to his other two best friends. The other two gods P and A came hurtling to their friend K.  
"What happened? Did you broke something again?"  
"It better be something important. I am trying to sanction another natural disaster for Earth here."  
K rolled his eyes. "It's about 'the girl'. She got her memory back. Not all but a major one."  
"What? How?!" P exclaimed. "We regulated the memory flow, right? The major ones shouldn't be due till next month."  
"I know, right! But that's not happened here. She drank a potion brewed by those wizards. That's what interfered with our pace. She now has recollection of who James, Sirius, Remus and Peter are, and apparently what happened the night Sirius died."  
"She got all of that from only one memory?" asked A.  
"Yes. It seems this particular memory had a very strong impact on her." Said K, now looking at his secured database. "She literally cried for two whole days at the death of Sirius in the fifth book. It's like she was feeling the pain of Harry's loss."  
"No shit. Does that mean she already knows she is in a book's story?" P enquired.  
K shook his head. "She already thinks she is a part of the wizarding world. What she think she saw was the future and it's up to her to avoid it from happening."  
"Okay…. So, what do we do now?" A asked.  
"We do what our father says. 'Let it take its natural course and see what happens.'" P replied.  
"But we have to do something about the potions. We can't let her take any more of it." Said K.  
"Don't worry." P winked with a sly grin. "I know how to take care of it."

Sirius was pacing back and forth in his room waiting for Remus to show up. James and Peter were watching him seriously contemplating the reason he was so anxious but they had to wait for Remus. Sirius said he would tell them all together. Just then their room's door slammed open.  
"What is so damn urgent that you called me with our emergency messaging. I nearly got caught by Professor Vector." Remus asked impatiently.  
Sirius motioned him to sit and then said. "Artemis knows."

"What?"  
"Yes. She remembered during Divination class. She told me about our animagi forms and I saw her froze in her mid-sentence when your part came up."  
All blood from Remus's face drained like someone had pulled a plug from the drain.  
"We have to ask her." Everyone agreed.

Artemis was lying on bed, not even bothering to change out of the school uniform. She hadn't moved an inch for straight three hours. Lily was concerned about her state, she even insisted her to visit Hospital wing if she was not feeling well but Artemis told her she's only feeling homesick. It was only when she realized that it's time for her first detention with Slughorn, that she moved. She descended the stairs of the girl's dorm, her mind totally somewhere else. Her legs took her straight towards the portrait hole on its own when she got held by a strong hand.  
"Arty, are you alright? You didn't seemed to hear our calling." Said James, turning her around, his eyes scanning her in search of any visible injuries and stopped at her face; her eyes were puffed and red, most likely from crying. As soon as his eyes met her's, she started crying once again.  
"Oh Merlin… what happened? Why are you crying?" He asked her, frantically trying to do something that could stop her from crying but failing miserably. At this point Sirius, Remus and Peter rushed forward to the scene, wanting to know what had happened.  
"I missed my 'dinner'." She said, as she started sobbing hard.  
"What?" all the four faces when blank after hearing her reason.  
"Yes. First I forget the very existence of it and now that I remembered it all, I can't seem to accept the hard truth!" sobbing loudly.  
"I loved it so much! It was warm, and sweet… and funny. And it left him all alone to struggle with his fate!" James was bewildered on hearing Artemis' s weird description, he couldn't think of anything to say to her. The same thing was going on in Sirius's and Peter's mind. They just kept staring her thinking she has gone mad. But there was one person who guessed the hidden meaning behind all the weirdness. He said nothing, just rushed up to her and embraced her, letting her cry onto him.  
"Don't worry Artemis. We are here with you now." Remus said. Hearing him say that, she just continued to sob and only stopped when it was five minutes to eight. She only said 'I have to go.' and then stepped out for her detention.  
"Wow…. What I didn't understand was, if she was that hungry then why didn't she just went down and ate her dinner?... or could have asked us to nick some food from the kitchen." Peter said after she left the common room. At the end of the last ten minutes, James and Sirius had caught up to her situation, stared at Peter in disbelief when he stated his observation.  
They were extremely lucky that nobody was present at the common room that time. It was like God's miracle*wink* *wink*.

Artemis was heading back to the Griffindor common room after her not-so-much-of-a-detention. By the night time, Slughorn's anger toned down and also the fact that Artemis was a new student and McGonagall held her back after her class, he just gave her some books to sort, hardly an hour worth of work, but made her sit while talked for another hour about all kind of crap.  
Slowly, she dragged her feet, thinking about today's events, that were constantly whirlpooling inside her. Now that she was alone, she was thinking it over and over until it starts making some sense to her.  
 _One thing I am sure of: The things that I remembered at the Divination class was true, my feelings that I remembered were true, that I have lived it._  
But something is not adding up. The Sirius that I saw…dying… was an adult and it's impossible to time travel, even in the wizarding world. Then how it can be true that I lived a future event.  
 _'_ _There is indeed a connection between this and my amnesia.' She thought._

As soon as she entered the common room, she came face to face with the marauders. They were waiting for her.  
"We need to talk."  
Her eyes widened, "How did you knew – never mind" she already knew the answer of her question. 'The map'. She looked around the room, no one was present except for two seventh years, who were busy doing homework.  
She sat at the single cushioned sofa- the only seat left when all the marauders took their seat around the fireplace, and waited for them to start the conversation. It was James who spoke first.  
"Sirius told us that you remembered something from your memory…. that involves us."  
She nodded. All four of them exchanged looks.  
"How much do you remember?"  
"Some….details." She said reluctantly.  
"Go on."  
"What? You want me to elaborate or something?" Artemis said, tiredness clearly can be seen on her face, but got no response from them.  
She sighed as she began. "I remember about you all being Animagi and your-" She nodded towards Remus before scanning the surroundings quickly with her eyes- "…furry problem."  
James and Sirius laughed on hearing her last words, surprising her a little, the tension floating on the air was suddenly lifted.  
Artemis looked questionably at James and Sirius as if asking them, 'What the hell is happening', Sirius on getting this clue, answered, "Oh, we are not laughing _at you_ , it's what you said. You see 'Furry little problem' is James way to address Remus's… you know…. Furry little problem." And started laughing again. Remus, however, got more tensed and instead asked Artemis, "And knowing that, does not bother you?"  
The laughter stopped. A little uncomfortable again with all the staring and a serious question, she said, "Why would I be. I was okay with it earlier and I'm okay with it now. What difference does it make? You are still you, right?" she assured him looking directly at his eyes.  
A light blush dusted across Remus's face. ' _She accepted my problem just like that. How can she be that understanding?', he thought._ He tore his eyes away from her and nodded, just a little.  
"Now, if your interrogation is over, can I get some sleep? I am dead tired." Artemis said stifling a yawn. She bid goodbyes to all the four and went upstairs thinking about her snuggly bed.

"Hey Temi. How was your detention?" Lily asked Artemis. By the looks of her, she was just about to hit the hay.  
"Boring. Slughorn is very talkative. He kept yapping about some person who sends him exclusive wines." Artemis said.  
"Temi…"  
"Hmm?" Artemis said while putting on her pajamas.  
Lily shifted awkwardly at her spot. "How are you feeling? You have been awfully quite after lunch. And then you said you were feeling homesick. Are you not feeling welcome here?"  
Artemis suddenly remembered her actions and how it looked to the others. She also lied about the homesickness to Lily who had been trying her best to make her feel welcome.  
"I know it's hard to adjust to a new place but don't make –"  
"Lily, I'm alright. And I'm really glad to find a friend like you on the first day. Trust me, you don't have to worry about me." Artemis tried to say as sincerely as possible. Lily returned her a smile, wished goodnight and pulled up her curtains.

Artemis's Thoughts  
'Heck of a first day I had.' She thought as she pulled out her 'Memory notes' that she had been maintaining since yesterday.  
'Loads to write about today.' It only had been two days since she started writing her memory notes and yet she had filled three full pages in it.  
'Remembered about the marauders.'  
'Remembered about the night when Sirius died.'  
'Who is Harry Potter? He keeps popping up but I can't able to put my finger on it.'

Meanwhile at Fifth year boy's dorm  
"I knew we were friends! Or there is no other way she would have known. It's like finding a hidden surprise." James said gleefully as everybody changed into pajamas. "I think we should have asked her more questions."  
"Save something for tomorrow, Prongs." Sirius laughed but he can't deny that he is happy about the outcome.  
Sirius's Thoughts  
'She was our friend. She was in our inner circle, that can be the only explanation of her animagi memory.' The mere thought filled Sirius's body with a tingling warmth.  
 _But why did she froze when she remembered the memory? Her action surely changed after that. And why did she cry tonight?_  
 _She is keeping something from us._  
Remus's Thoughts  
'She accepted me for me, not for what I have become.' Remus felt elated. It's for the first time anyone has accepted him without even asking a single question apart from the marauders.  
'I can still remember the day when we had a lesson about werewolves, how everybody cringed and feared at the description. They labelled me a monster, dark and dangerous creature. I never thought anybody would come in my life after marauders who wouldn't care for all those labels.'  
James's Thoughts  
'My Lily pad…. I bet she is thinking about me…'  
James was smiling like an idiot.


	6. Beech tree enlightenment

6 am, Saturday.  
Fifth Year Girl's dorm, Griffindor tower.  
A certain girl was studying. Not because of exam pressure or class tests. She was studying because it gave her immense joy learning about magical stuffs. This curiosity never left her even after her strange amnesia.  
"Good morning, Temi." Marlene said groggily.  
"Good morning Mar." Artemis replied.  
"What are you – Are you studying? On a Saturday morning?" she was sleepy but still somehow managed to flash a surprised expression.  
"I'm just catching up, nothing more." Artemis said with a smile.  
"Ugh… it seems like Lily bug has already bit you."  
"Shut up." they heard Lily's derisive comment as she woke up. "It's not a bug, it's called natural conscience. You are a student, you should do it too sometimes."  
Lily got herself a pillow thrown on her not only by Marlene but by Alice too. Cursing, they all got up and headed for bathroom one by one to freshen up. By the onset of the Saturday breakfast, they were ready and down at the House table. Artemis was especially happy, for it was her first weekend at Hogwarts.  
"Everything looks delicious." Artemis said smacking her lips. "but it's probably because I missed yesterday's dinner and I'm starving right now." She grinned sheepishly, loading her plate with pancakes while she chewed on an apple.  
"Ah…. The weather is so gloomy…I feel gloomy. Let's just eat and go back to dorm. I want to spend my Saturday sleeping." Marlene whined.  
"Hey… don't say that." Artemis insisted. "This is my first Saturday here! We should do something. What about my Hogwarts tour, huh? I still don't know this place. It'll be fun."  
"Your Hogwarts tour is booked with me, remember?" James said, walking up to them and taking a seat beside Artemis, Sirius and Remus following him behind. "Good morning my beautiful Lily. Looking stunning, as usual."  
"Good morning Potter. Being annoying, as usual." Said Lily, her voice suddenly changed to a monotonous tone.  
"Cut him some slack, Evans. He is in a good mood today. Don't be the reason of him go all grumpy for the rest of the weekend." Sirius added, he too started stacking his plate with food.  
"Hey guys." Artemis munched on. "You are all up early. What are you up to?"  
James smiled a bit wickedly, "Trust me, you wouldn't wanna know." Artemis eyes travelled and rested on Sirius. He winked at her as he, too, reflected the same mischievous smile.  
"Don't mingle with them Temi, they are always up to no good. I know that Potter is your family friend but trust me on this, they always end up in trouble." Lily said and stood up ready to leave. "Now if you'll excuse Alice and me, we have to go to the library."  
"Huh, me too?" Alice jolted up, questioning the sudden change of her plans. Lily eyed her menacingly which clearly said, 'Come with me right now, no question asked.'  
Artemis smiled as a particular memory popped up in her head in which a certain bushy haired girl always leaves her two best friends hanging before she storms to library as a conversation ending statement.  
"There goes Lily and I didn't even get to ask her out today." James whined but still stuffing food in his mouth.  
"Of course, that's where the only problem lies; otherwise if you had asked her, she would have definitely said yes." Sirius said, sarcastically.  
"Ooh…You think?" James asked eagerly.  
"No, you dumbass!"  
The breakfast was fairly quite after that. Everybody concentrated on filling their stomach, Remus was talking to Marlene; Frank, Alice's boyfriend who joined them at the table soon after Lily left, was talking about quidditch with James and Sirius and Artemis was just waiting for everyone to finish up.  
"You all are going for quidditch practice now?" Artemis asked. Getting head nods from the boys made her a bit disappointed, as they headed to the ground. Marlene has already went upstairs to her beloved bed.  
"Well, you are coming too, right?" James asked, putting his arm on her shoulder, though he didn't waited for reply but pulled her along with him.  
James, Sirius and Frank were on Griffindor quidditch team. They left Remus and Artemis at the stands and proceeded to the locker room. The other team members: Fabian and Gideon Prewett, Cas Marie, Thomas Wood, were already on the pitch, doing some usual warm up routine.  
"You don't play?" Artemis asked as She and Remus took seat at the nearest Griffindor stand.  
"Never had that much interest. Besides, James and Sirius's passion is enough for all of us."  
"So, you just come here and watch them play? Even on practice days?" She teased him.  
"No. Just today." A blush flashed across Remus' face, when he realized what just escaped his mouth but that went unnoticed by Artemis as that precise second someone flew past them, missing them by inches. He turned his neck to see Sirius showing off his skills again and Artemis waving at him, looking amazed with his stunts.  
"Sorry, what did you say? I didn't heard you." She said, turning back to Remus.  
"Ah! Look. They are starting." He quickly changed the subject.  
The Griffindor quidditch team took off the ground. They flew some practice rounds before starting ball practice. James, who was the captain, yelled every now and then, either to raise morale or at Fabian and Gideon to stop fooling around with bludgers. James was a fun guy but he does not had any sense of humor when it came to quidditch.  
"Padfoot, where is your usual attention today?" bellowed James from above. James shouted at Sirius when he missed a pass from Frank for the fourth time today.  
"My bad. I think I ate too much." He returned at James with equal loud shout.  
"Just go easy on him, James. I don't want him to puke all over us." Cas said, halting beside James.  
"Alright. Let's leave this drill for now, okay. We will do the Arrow stance." And they, once again resumed their practice.  
They were done with the Practice before lunch. The team changed from the gears before heading towards the castle. Sirius was perplexed, 'what happened today? Why couldn't I concentrate at the practice?' he thought. He didn't gave much thought to it but during this entire practice, Sirius's eye kept darting towards the stands where a certain girl and one of his best friends were talking, laughing with each other and he was feeling uneasy with all of this without even having any clue of it.

Artemis P.O.V.  
"Padfoot, where is your usual attention today?" James shouted somewhere from my far left.  
"Is James always this much worked up every time he plays?" I asked Remus.  
He laughed at my question before he answered, "When it comes to quidditch, he is always this much worked up."  
I sighed. "All this looks so much fun. You know, every place here looks insanely familiar. The faces, the classes, even conversations seems familiar to me. But I can't do anything about it. It just makes me want to scratch my brains off my head, if I could ever do that." Remus laughed with me. I sighed again. "Ah… what wouldn't I give to remember all my memories. The time that I would've spent here…our times together… first day meeting, in train, first classes together… maybe flying even!" a disappointed expression crossed my face. "It hurt more to think that I have four years of Hogwarts missing from my life."  
Remus' expression softened, "Hey…–" He put his palm on top of mine, "-don't think like that. Take it like this: atleast you have three more years here, with us. Plus your memories is also coming back, bit by bit." He gave me a reassuring smile which I tried to returned as convincingly as possible.  
"Speaking of spending more years here… can we start 'you tutoring me' thing from today? It's already been a week." I asked, making my best puppy eyes. "If you got some time to spare. Obviously."

Remus P.O.V.  
"… can we start 'you tutoring me' thing from today?" Artemis asked with her puppy eyes. _Damn, those eyes_ …. I can't say no to her. Even if I wanted to, I can't. Not that I had any prior engagements.  
"If you got some time to spare. Obviously."  
"Of course. I am free after lunch anyway, why not make some use of it." I tried to laugh my awkward gawking off. "We can meet at Library."  
"Cool."  
We took a head start towards Hogwarts as the practice ended. We chatted on a number of random topics, from homeworks to leisure activities; from favorite music to favorite books, I seriously never had this much fun talking to someone since ages. It's been a week since Artemis came to our life but it feels like she was always with us.

"Let's start, shall we?"  
Artemis and I were in the library after lunch. It was just a study session but her face clearly showed enthusiasm of a child who was eager to learn something. _She is so pure, it takes my heart away._  
"Yup." She chimed. We took seats beside each other. She pulled out a notebook, her quill, inkpot and notes that I gave her some days ago and put them all in front of her in a perfect balanced order.  
A smile formed on my lips as I saw her doing her usual routine that she does at the start of every class. _She is taking this study session quite seriously._  
"Which subject you wanna start first?" I asked, focusing on her again.  
"Transfiguration. I really want to do well in McGonagall's subject." Artemis said, smiling sheepishly.  
"Alrighty then."  
Time flies when you are having fun. True. I enjoyed spending every second with her. She was like a mystery to me; she knew about us but we knew nothing about her. We were in the library for almost three hours, yet somehow it seemed we just arrived.  
"Ah… sorry to interrupt your study date but I am going to borrow Artemis here."

Sirius P.O.V.  
I walked out of the shower, feeling relaxed to the very cells of my body after a quidditch practice, only to here James shouting, "Our little Remus… going on a date!"  
 _What the hell did happened while I was in the shower._  
"What? Remus going on a date?" I asked eagerly. I sat on my bed, still in a towel, forgetting completely to dress up; I was just surprised that he arranged himself a date without even telling to us.  
"It is _not_ a date!" Remus emphasized. "…again, I am telling you. Artemis asked me for helping her with her studies and that's what I am going to do."  
"So, it's not a date. It's a _study_ date!" James inferred with a smirk.  
"Is it a Sirius kind of 'study date' or…" Peter also joined, now genuinely thinking about it.  
"You guys are impossible…" and with that disapproving tone, Remus walked out of our room.  
Remus tutoring Artemis was not a new news to me but when James put a label on it, the same uneasy feeling came back that was bothering me all this morning, and I didn't know why. Brooding over these random things, I dressed up. I was meeting up with this Revenclaw girl for a 'study date' that Peter mentioned earlier which reminded me of 'that' conversation and my head flooded with all the 'Remus and Artemis' thoughts all over again.  
 _Why are you thinking about them now! You are going to meet a hot girl. Concentrate on that!_ I shook my head to disperse all the useless thoughts as I pictured that girl – _what was her name again…-_ Ugh, not again.  
Half hour later, I was in a broom cupboard, with the girl.  
"Hey, Sirius." 'the girl' smiled seductively at me.  
"Hey –… babe" I returned her smile as I controlled the 'not-remembering-the-girl's-name' situation. She bit her lower lip ever so slightly as her eyes filled with desire. I smirked at her as she covered the remaining distance between us and wrapped her hands around my neck. Even in the next-to-no-light in the broom cupboard on the fourth floor, I could still make out her desire filled eyes that only wanted me.  
I only had to lean against her body and reach out to her full pink lips.

I plucked a leaf and threw it on the ground. I have repeated these two action for the nth time in last two hours. I know what you are wondering: whenever I have things to think over, I come here; on the beech tree at the edge of the lake. From the past two hours, the only questions keeps revolving inside my head:  
 _What is wrong with me?_  
 _Why do she keeps popping up in my head all the time? Even when I was kissing another girl! What she does in her time is none of my business. So, why it bothers me when she is alone with Remus even while studying._  
 _Something is definitely wrong with me. Or something is wrong with her. Yes. There is no such girl that can rule my head. So what, if she doesn't see me like the other girls do. She is no special. My attention goes towards her only because I don't know anything about her._  
 _That's it. I have to get to know her. This is the only way I can stop her from invading my thoughts._  
I jumped down the tree, dusted off my clothes and ran towards the Library. The thought of getting to know her made me excited. As I reached the Library door, I stopped for a moment, paced down my breathing and entered. My eyes searched for her eagerly as I scrolled down aisle after aisle. Finally I found her, and Remus, sitting at the far side of the Library, fully engrossed in their books. A part of me felt relieved when I saw them actually studying unlike my kind of 'study date'. I laughed at myself as walked up to them.  
"Ah… sorry to interrupt your study date but I am going to borrow Artemis here."  
I said to them as I grabbed Artemis' hand and pulled her towards me. I flashed my million dollar smile as both of them gaped at me.  
"What…. Sirius?" Remus tried to form a question but failed miserably after witnessing my abrupt actions.  
"That's enough studying for today. Save something for tomorrow at least." I winked at him. "See you later." I whisper-shouted and with that I was out of the Library within a minute.


	7. A Date' but not really

"Where are we going Sirius?" Artemis asked. They were heading….somewhere… in a very fast pace. Sirius was still holding her hand since he literally pulled her out from Library.  
No answer.  
"Sirius?"  
Still no answer.  
Artemis was getting impatient.  
"Sirius?"  
"Sirius. Sirius. Sirius. Sirius. Sirius. Sirius. . . ."  
"For the love of God, STOP!" Sirius's patience finally cave in. "God you are so annoying…" he muttered quietly but loud enough to reach Artemis's ear. "What?"  
Artemis paused for a second, took a deep breath and asked with a smile on her face, "Where are we going in such a hurry?" She asked so innocently that Sirius forgot he was annoyed by her constant pestering.  
"Hogwarts tour." He replied, looking at her questioning eyes. "- remember? You wanted a Tour. So, I'm giving you that."  
"But James said he will be my tour guide –"  
"Yeah… he is busy." He said airily. "Anyway, let's start with the tour, shall we?" and he gave Artemis his famous crooked smile.

Sirius P.O.V.  
"We are in astronomy tower!" Artemis expresses her surprise in a skeptical way. "You do know that I have been here for the classes, right?"  
She went to an edge and peered down. Despite her words, she was quite enjoying there. I walked up to her and leaned against the railing, "bet you haven't seen this view then." She nodded in awe and said, "It's amazing how far we can see from here, isn't it? It seems like… like we are a giant or… or we are flying, with our line of sight at this height. That'd be so cool…"  
She was going on and on about things that she didn't even realized I was laughing at her. _That was the weirdest analogy I have ever heard. She always amuses me with her different approach in the life. Look at her…Does anyone behaves this positive when suffering from amnesia?_  
 _What's going on in her mind?_  
"… Speaking of which, do you always play Quidditch like this morning? I mean… Gryffindor's team is supposed to be good, right? I know James is good but are you?" Artemis said in a disbelieving tone.  
"Hey! Don't judge a player by only one practice game. I _am_ a good player and popular too." I stressed on. "…wait a minute, you said you _remember_ James being a good player…" She nodded. "…but not me?"  
 _She doesn't remember me._  
That 'annoying feeling' was back.  
"…I don't know… I can't seem to remember you in the whole quidditch scenario. But I do remember you being a womanizer." She said with a little tease working on her face. I felt a warm sensation rushed to my face but I dismissed it by retorting, "…well, at least you remember me."  
She returned my grin and said, "so,… what's our next stop, Mr. Tour guide?"  
We roamed around the castle through different short-cut passageways, from Ravenclaw tower to the dungeons to the kitchens; I showed her the different trick ways and hidden routes. She was enjoying it thoroughly, like a child in an amusement park. It was truly satisfying to see her eyes sparkle at every new thing that pops in front of her.  
"You are staring."  
"Huh?"  
"I said, 'You are staring' at me. What happened?" she asked, ceasing her pace completely, looking clearly perplexed by my behavior. We were at a deserted corridor near hospital wing, which felt emptier when our footsteps stopped resounding through it.  
I came back to my senses. "It's not fair."  
"What's not fair?"  
"I was wondering… it's not fair that you know so many things about us but we don't know anything about you." I said looking directly at her.  
"Sirius, even I know nothing about me. How am I –"  
"That's not what I'm saying, I'm just talking about your interests, hobbies, etc. etc." I egged on.

( _Inside Sirius' head:_  
 _'_ _Wow, you sound desperate, like you are seriously 'interested' in her.'_  
'No, I'm not. I'm just getting to know her so that I don't get intrigued by her every time I'm with her, so that I could concentrate on my other things.'  
 _'…_ _.Yeah… that's totally different from what I said.*rolling his eyes*'_  
'Say whatever you want but what I'm doing, is a great idea. If I get to know her, I –'  
 _'_ _Yeah, yeah, I know your stupid reason. I was there when you came up with this nonsensical idea on that beech tree…. Just do what whatever you want. I don't even care. I'm done reasoning with you.'_ )

"Oh… thaaat." She grinned sheepishly. "Sure. We can do that. But do I get to ask you too? I also want to know about you too, you know."  
My heart beat rose a bit. A little bit. "Later. But first .… tell me about you. Whatever you remember."  
She paused for little while, like she was searching for right words, and then started, "Well, I am Artemis Hale. I recently got my memory wiped off from and for unknown reasons; I think I am a single child… which I inferred from a recent recall. I'm a proud southpaw, I can speak four languages, quite odd actually, given the fact that I don't even remember my family and how I get to know these four languages…. I absolutely love magic! Well who doesn't?... This whole place is full of it and everybody gotta love that, right? I love surprises, swords, sweets, good laughs, long walks, beaches, sunsets…. Ooh, and music!... the sound of Violin, and piano; I love the way chocolates melt into my mouth, the elated feeling after completing a book…." She was reciting with a far gaze in her eyes, I could easily tell all her words were coming out from her heart. "….The feeling of flying and wind swiping off your hair…." _(A/N: Artemis, here, remembering a vague memory of her para gliding but the lack of the complete memory tricks her to compare it from a broomstick ride.)_ She turned her gaze towards me, her face sparkled with every word. "I also like sketching faces, capturing their expressions, lines and contours…." Her fingers motioning around her face explaining every word, "…and observing colors…. like the perfect blend of red, yellow and blue with the black in the evening sky…." And she took a step towards me, "….or the grey color of your eyes with just a tinge…" her face, tilting upwards looking into my eyes, searching for something, barely reaching my chin, "…of blue…." She added slowly, her voice only louder than a whisper, "…One might even miss it if not looked deep enough…."  
By then, my heart was starting to bang on to my chest and I felt heat rushed up to my face; we were so close that it was a miracle if she didn't heard my heartbeat. We stood there for a few seconds, not moving an inch, (I don't know what was going on her mind but I was waiting for her to break the silence).  
"Yeah, that's pretty much the gist of who I am." Artemis concluded, turning forward abruptly. For a moment there, I thought I saw a blush on her face, but even if it was, it was gone before I could confirm it. She twirled on her heel and beamed at me, "Next question please."  
I smiled at her quirkiness. "Okay, so, next umm…. can you sing?"  
"Yes."  
"Can you sing well?"  
"Oh, then no."  
"Hey, you can't go into technicality!"  
They kept the questionnaire on throughout the whole 'tour'; there were silly questions, serious questions, teasing questions, 'What if' questions, they were so immersed, that they didn't even noticed the dinner time was halfway over.  
"God! Look at the time, we will miss our dinner. We need to hurry." Artemis exclaimed. They were currently at the owlery; Sirius said, despite the strong smell, it has one of the best views of the vast stretch of Forbidden forest.  
"If you are hungry, eat this." I tossed a bag of chips at her, which she caught effortlessly. "We still have a place left to cover."

Artemis P.O.V.  
"Where _is_ this place?" I asked as we started to make way downwards. It was getting darker with the sun nearly down at the horizon.  
"You'll find soon enough – _stop._ " Sirius suddenly halted right in front of me which resulted me to walk directly into him. "Ow... – sorry. Don't stop so suddenly in front of me! We are still on the stairs." I complained.  
"We have to descend straight down from this point." Sirius said, not heeding to my complains.  
I looked at him disbelievingly. "What?! Are you crazy? You want me to climb down these moss covered columns? That's like jumping right into a disaster _willingly_." That's right, the owlry, was a stand-alone structure, built at the edge of a cliff, and the stairs that leads up to it was quite narrow in ratio to the height. It could easily be measured upto 30m before the drop starts.  
"Relax, I have a secret way to get down. All you have to do is to follow my lead." He smirked at my slyly.  
I wasn't sure who was more stupid: the guy who decides to trek down a cliff, when sun is almost down or the girl who is blindly following him with no experience whatsoever in what they are doing. _'_ _Great job Temi. My condolences in advance, you know, if your leg slips and you accidently kill yourself.'_ "Not funny!"  
"What did you say?" Sirius asked from below. We were descending down an extremely narrow protrude, to God knows where, for almost fifteen minutes. The cliff rocks were hard to climb to, had we not used suction charm at our hands. It was death- tiring, using your full shoulder strength to keep grasp. I took a glance at him- he was climbing down effortlessly, with all the quidditch related muscle training…. _obviously, look at his biceps… and the toned body… I can clearly see it through his T-shirt._  
"Nothing!" Damn it. Not a great place to gape. _Have control, you idiot. No, literally! Or you will die._ Clearing my head, I asked him, "Umm… how much more we have to climb down before we reach 'the place'?" I rolled my eyes at the last part. It was because of that damned 'place' that I am risking my life here.  
"I saw that. You, rolling eyes. Have patience, we are almost there. This is a special place, it had to be well hidden." He grinned up at me. We reached the place after ten more minutes of trekking.  
It was a small cave.  
"Whoa… this is awesome." I said, clearly astonished by this discovery. "It's a secret cave. What more do you want!" I turned full 360° to take a better look. "Killer view! Ooh… You can see quidditch pitch from here." I squinted my eyes, as I exclaimed.  
"Seriously, best place in Hogwarts. Totally worth the stupid trekking."  
The place was so relaxing, we sat there for another hour, gazing at the night sky in silence with occasional hooting of owls.  
"Thanks for today, Sirius. It was by far, the best day in Hogwarts. Well…. I _have_ spent a 'whole big week' here." I air quoted the last part while munching on another bag of chips that Sirius pulled out of nowhere. I sighed and looked up at the night sky. _Seriously, has it only been a week here? It feels more. Like I always belonged here._ A smile crossed my face as I played this past week again in my head.  
Hogwarts had always been a major part of my life, I just can't remember 'when', 'how' and 'why' of it.

"Where have you been?" Lily yelled at me the moment I entered our room. It was 10:30 at night and I was not at her radar the whole day, she was bound to get angry at me.  
"ehh…." I was confused what to say to her. If I mention even the name of Sirius, I would get yelled at even more. "I was with Remus, studying." I blurted out. At least it was not a lie. Technically.  
"Remus was with Potter and that Pettigrew boy. Don't lie to me." She warned me. I was literally sweating at her image. I tried to delay my reply in every way possible so that I could come up with a good lie _or should I tell her the truth. What the most she will do: yell at me for not heeding her warning! I don't want her to yell at me. She scolds like mother._  
"It is not a lie. I did study with him but only till evening. After that I was with Sirius."  
"This late?" She raised an eyebrow at my answer.  
"Umm…. Yeah. He was giving me Hogwarts tour…. and also I lost my way due to the moving stairs. it took him quite a good stretch of time to find me." I laughed sheepishly. I can't tell her about the trekking or the cave, she would freak out.  
"Hmm…. At least now you won't lost your way inside Hogwarts." Lily finally said, laughing with me. "but let me tell you once again…" I turned at her direction from my bed. "…Sirius is a player, I hope you know that by now too. Please don't fall for him." She added, a kind expression was on her face.  
I smiled at her. "Don't worry. I won't do anything troublesome." I said, as I started making my bed. Today was quite adventurous for me; I trekked down a cliff like a daredevil, studied like a good student, even stayed out of bed after curfew.  
 _'_ _Just enjoy your school time while you can. Who knows what your past has hidden from you.'_


	8. Night Adventure

Remus P.O.V.

"Fifth year, O.W.L. year…. certainly not a joke. This is way too hectic _and_ it's only November!" James whined for the nth time that evening. He tossed aside his Astronomy essay, which flew and landed neatly a few feet away from where we were sitting, and sprawled on the floor. "I need a break from all this."  
"You've not even written four lines of the essay and you need a break? Mate, then you'll be receiving a great deal of surprise this coming year." I replied to him wearily without even looking up from my homework.  
"I have a great idea!" Sirius exclaimed with his fist up in the air; he had given up on his homework long before James did, "…that would cheer you up." his sly grin slowly creeping on his mouth as he stood up from where he was sitting and beckoned Peter to join him. Peter who was already struggling with his essay, left his poorly attempted work on the floor and accepted Sirius' lead.  
"You do remember that we have to finish these tonight, right? It has only been an hour after the dinner that we are here in the common room doing due assignments and you all are already way off our original aim." I tried to remind them what we originally decided. James and Sirius looked at me like I had sprouted wings from my back.  
"Moony…" James put his hand on my shoulder, "Look at yourself! You look so worn out…. And with the moon approaching, you definitely need a relief. Now c'mon…."  
I let James pull me from the ground; agreeing to him put a big smile on his face. "Okay… but what are you guys actually planning?" I asked Sirius as we head towards the portrait hole.  
"Oh, It is awesome. My idea, that is." He stated as if it's a known fact. "I had this pranking idea for ages but we were so busy that I forgot to convey it to you all."  
My eyes automatically moved to a certain group of girls as we passed them on our way towards the portrait hole. There she was, reading, her lips slightly moving with every word she read, and her fingers toying with a quill. _Artemis Hale_. At that very moment, she looked up from her book, straight into my eyes; it was like she heard her name called out.  
(A/N: Just to make it clear, italic words are generally the thoughts of the person whose P.O.V. I mention at the top.)

My heart skipped a beat. _Oh Merlin, I was gawking at her and she caught me red handed. It's embarrassing….. What should I do…_ We exchanged glances for few seconds; I saw a light blush crept on her face. _'_ _Smile at her at least! Don't just stand there like a statue.'_ I gave her a fleeting smile and turned my head away from her as quickly as possible. In all this confusion, I forgot to duck at the portrait hole and got bumped into it with quite a force.  
"Agh! Damn…" I groaned with pain as I left the common room.  
 _'_ _Served you right….Ogling at a girl… where are your manners, Remus.'_ I shook my head, being disappointed with myself. James, Sirius and Peter were already a few steps ahead so I increased my pace to match up with them. I heard Sirius talking about his plan to James, covering their faces with mischievous smiles. Soon we reached the 'starting point' that Sirius explained, would be the origin of his prank: the fourth floor corridor.  
"Okay. So, this is how we will execute the plan. This corridor parts into four different direction. We each will take a direction and like I explained earlier, will be performing the spell on every alternate walls and floors. Adjacent walls will be affected by the spell automatically."  
"What spell? I didn't heard you the last time you were explaining." I asked Sirius, feeling a bit foolish for not paying attention.  
"It's written in here." And he gave me a piece of paper. I unfolded it and found spells scribbled on it.  
 _attiguus tactus_  
 _perlucidulus mirage_  
"…wait, when did you write this? You have a quill on yourself –"  
"What does it do? I have never heard of this spell before." Peter asked eagerly looking at Sirius.  
I read the spells again, it was of an advanced level. "Padfoot, this spell is quite complicated for our level. It would be tricky to use this on such a big scale and that to on our first attempt. How do you think we'll be –"  
"That's why it is combined with an illusion spell. It will just create an illusion of the actual spell activated by touch or pressure. Don't worry, I have all figured it out." Sirius said with a huge grin. "Now come on, let's do this…. Before we get discovered by the Professors."  
We split up and spanned throughout the castle, casting the spell on every wall. It was a tedious work and risky and we were already past our in-time. Boy, we would be in serious trouble if we get found out by any teachers. _'_ _I should've been resting instead of doing this. Hell, I should've been completing my assignments instead of doing this or resting. But somehow, I always gets wind up doing something crazy instead.'_ I continued to cast spells as I entered the last part of the castle that I hadn't touched. _'_ _Ah.. the only corridor left… '_ I increased my pace to complete the work quickly but stopped when I heard footsteps echoing from the other side of the corridor. I searched frantically for a place to hide but failed miserably.  
 _'_ _Shit… I'm in trouble. What do I do… what do I do.'_ The footsteps were getting closer and closer. I turned back and ran as fast as I can. I knew it made hell of a noise but I didn't had any choice.  
"Whose there?" a voice called behind me, increasing its pace to catch up to mine.  
I didn't wanted to get caught but my footsteps were giving me away.  
" _Muffliato!_ "  
I turned around to see the spell caster. I saw a familiar figure with jet black waist length hair. "Cas! You are here…. Why are you here?" I was surprised to see Cas Marie outside, roaming in the castle, at this hour.  
"Surprised to see me here? Well, be surprised later, now we have to get away from Filch. Follow me." Cas said, before she started running. I followed her without any question but inside, I was bursting with curiosity. _'_ _What is Cas doing here? She is not one of those people who breaks school rules. She is one of the obedient students in our year…'_  
"Nice quick thinking there, with the spell, by the way." I complimented her, as we took a shortcut to the Gryffindor tower.  
"Thanks. I'm surprised you didn't think of it before I did." She grinned at me before asking, "What were you even doing there at this time? It's almost midnight."  
 _Dear lord… Did this little pranking arrangement took that much of my time?_ "I could ask you the same." I try to change the focus light to her.  
"Me…" She scoffed, "I have a condition…. I walk in my sleep."  
I got surprised by her carefree attitude towards her… condition. It was dangerous for her yet she was taking it so lightly. I wanted to ask her about it more but it might offend her, it would be invading her privacy after all.  
"Don't worry, I take my potions. I just forgot to take tonight's." She laughed sheepishly at her mistake.  
I blinked at her. I must be having that worried look on my face that James always points out. I quickly adjusted my expressions and gave her a weak smile, I just didn't know how to reply to her comment.

James, Sirius and Peter were waiting for their friend Remus at the common room which was now almost deserted given that it was past midnight.  
"It's been almost 30 minutes since we came here. Where _is_ Moony? He should have been here by now." James worded his concerns finally.  
"Maybe he was caught by a patrolling teacher." Peter said.  
"Stop being gloomy, he's fine." Sirius added, although he too was concerned a bit.  
Five minutes later the portrait hole opened and two figures entered. The fire was almost out but the room was lit enough to know the presence of anybody in the vicinity.  
" – see you tomorrow at the class then." Cas said to Remus as the portrait hole closed after them. After exchanging goodbyes, Cas went up the girls dormitory whereas Remus walked up to the couch where his friends were waiting for him.  
"Ah… so, that is the reason you were late. And here we were thinking you got your first detention for this year." Sirius said, with a smirk working up his face.  
"You were thinking right. I nearly got caught by Filch if it wasn't for Cas Marie. She helped me escape from him. Sorry I couldn't finish enchanting the last corridor." Remus said.  
"It's alright. One measly corridor doesn't matter." Sirius added. "Now all there is left is to wait for the morning. I think this will be enough for a good distraction." And he started doing his evil laugh.

"When will it be activated?" Peter asked as the Marauders descended down the stairs of the boy's dormitory.  
"The spell will get activated as soon as anyone applies pressure on the enchanted zones. In this case, if anyone touches the walls or step onto the floors." Sirius explained the process in a very poised way.  
"Um…I think it is already activated." James said, pointing his finger towards the entrance of the common room where the Portrait was ajar and the students were crowding the way. Confusion was everywhere.  
"What is happening?" Lily Evans asked as she too, had just stepped into the common room. "Let me through. I am a prefect." She commanded a group of second year girls. The authority in her voice easily made way for her to the Portrait hole. When she saw the sight her mouth fell open:  
The stairs were as usual changing its destination every once in a while but they were completely hanging in the air. The corridor floor was vanished and so did the walls. The paintings on the walls were hanging in the midair. Everything was on its place except for the walls and the floors. Full outside view of sky, mountains, and lakes can be seen. Few students were there too, on the stairs, too afraid to step down from it.  
"What in the name of –"  
"How are we gonna go for breakfast?!"  
"What about classes?" a few first years asked, sounding all panicky. Lily was herself confused, _'_ _Who did this? This is clearly a prank. But who could have done such –'_ and she realized the answer to her questions. Only 'them' could have done pranks of this scale. "Potter!" She thundered as she turned around and walked straight up to him, "I know it's your doing. Fix it. Now."  
"Why do you always accuse me? Why do you think it is always me whenever something out of ordinary happens?" James replied to her by returning her gaze of anger with equal passion, the only difference was that his gaze was full of warmth. He took a step closer to her, "Do you think about me that much that you need excuses to talk to me?"  
"There he goes, all flirty." Sirius commented from behind. Marlene and Alice started to snigger at the scene that is unfolding in front of them.  
"In your dreams Potter. I swear –"  
"Hey look! We can walk here. The floor is not vanished, I think it only got transparent. And so did the walls." Artemis shouted from behind the crowd and pulled everybody's attention towards herself.  
 _'…_ _Figured out quite fast. Hmm…'_ thought Sirius, a smile flashed on his face. It took few minutes but the crowd slowly thinned out from the common room and trailed down towards the great hall.  
"We should go to the breakfast too. I want to see the full effect of the prank." James chimed with excitement.


	9. Sleepless night

The great hall was emptier than usual. The effect of the prank could be clearly seen. Not all of them, but some did caught on the trick in the prank and started to come out of their respective Houses. It was quite funny to see students crawl their way for the breakfast; it was like watching everyone walk in the air. Confusion was still around; some were annoyed by this and considering it a hindrance while some were finding it quite amusing.  
"It's strange how none of the teachers has taken steps for lifting this enchantment till now." Sirius said as he took bite from his apple pie.  
"It's only 8 in the morning. I'm pretty sure everything will settle down by the beginning of the first class." Remus said. He was too exhausted for eating anything so he just sat and watched his friends devour the food that laid in front of them.  
"Morning guys. Interesting prank you thought there." Cas said with a big grin on her face as she joined the table next to Remus. "… It's refreshing to wake up and see everything hanging up in the air."  
"Thank you for your compliment." Sirius said with a smug face. "We always try to keep everyone refreshed from the static daily routine."  
"Now I get it, what you were doing that late outside in the castle." And she pointed her finger to Remus. "It must be hard for you… being a prefect and breaking rules all at the same time…"  
Remus got flustered from all the accusation. "It's not like that all the time. In fact yesterday was the only time –"  
"Awesome prank you guys!"  
Everybody turned their head towards the voice, Artemis was waving her hand energetically. She reached up to them and sat beside James, "…I felt like I was flying, and walking in the air… I even heard Prof. Flitwick praise the handiwork when I crossed him on my way here." and automatically, everybody's head once again turned in unison towards the teachers table. Most of the teachers were not yet arrived for the breakfast.  
"Is that mean he is taking off the enchantment? It's not even been an hour…" Peter whined. He had a very dejected look on his face.  
"He has to take it off. It is hindering student's movement through the castle after all." Cas added.  
"Arty, where is Lily?" James asked Artemis all of a sudden. Artemis, who was stuffing eggs in her mouth, tried to answer him, "…ffe heffing fusft year sfudenfs…" (She helping first year students…)  
"Gross… don't spray your food…" James said in a disbelieving tone looking utterly grossed out. The look on his face made Remus, Sirius and Cas burst with laughter. (Peter was so engrossed with his food that he missed out most of the spraying display.) "Hey, you were the one who asked me when my mouth was full… and _you_ stop laughing!" Artemis said, pouting with anger.  
 _'_ _How can one's anger be this cute?'_ Remus thought, between his laughter.

The prank was a success. The whole morning, it was the only topic everyone was talking about. In the charms class Professor Flitwick even praised the marauders in front of the whole class. He was so joyous about the fine use of charms that he even granted 10 points to Gryffindor. The rest of the class he explained how the transparent illusionment charm works and how to perform the original charm.  
Amidst all this happenings, the day died and everyone retired to their dorms. Everybody slept quite refreshed after the day's events, except one person. Due to his special condition, he became more exhausted as a certain day of the month approached. The full moon was only a day after and Remus' health showcased its full effect.  
"You look like you woke up from your grave." Sirius said the next morning, dressing up for the classes.  
"…and you sounded like that too last night, with all the groaning." James added from his side of the room.  
Remus could only managed a guilt ridden smile in return of the last comment. He then, continued to put on his school uniform despite what his friends said.  
"Are you sure you want to attend classes? You should take the day off and rest…."  
"And if you are worrying about the notes and assignments, we'll take care of it."  
But Remus had different opinion. "I think skipping a whole day would not be a good idea. However I'll visit hospital wing and ask Madam Pomfrey to fix me up with some potion for the weakness."  
"I'm really worried about you Moony. You are way too much grueling yourself in the name of studying." James' tone was serious, worriment can clearly be seen on his face.

The day went on as exhaustive as it can be for Remus. The potion that Madam Pomfrey gave, added some relief but that was it. Suffering for a day, every month, for past nine years and still he hasn't got used to the pain his body goes through. When the pain was unbearable for him for not to show it in the public, he retired to his dorm and waited for his friends to arrive after classes.  
 _"_ _I want to be of any help…"_  
 _"_ _No. It's alright. I have already three of my friends risking their life for me every month, I don't want you too to be dragged into this." Remus said to Artemis. He was on this way to Hospital wing when he met her. Her concerns were obvious for him, hence, she insisted to accompany him to the hospital wing despite his opposition._  
 _"_ _I know. I can't do squat with my condition. I can't help you even if I wanted to… but you are my friend so if I could help even a little, I would be happy with it." Her smile was full of kindness. Remus couldn't help but feel warmth from her._  
 _"_ _I am lucky to gain another precious friend." He said returning her smile with equal warmth._  
'She is a nice girl. And I am glad that I am falling for her.' Remus said to himself, a smile crossed his face that looked more like a grimace, remembering their conversation.  
"Look at you… you look more grim, if that is possible, than this morning." Sirius said to Remus as he entered the room.  
"Only few hours left, then you'll be as good as new. Well… except for a few scratches…or… if everything goes as we planned." James added, entering after Sirius. Peter was the last to enter. "How are you now, Moony?" Peter asked.  
"Awesome as ever." Remus replied with a weak smile.

As the night cloaked around the castle, the four friends headed for the Whomping Willow. The invisibility cloak was becoming short for enveloping four fifteen year males; if anybody would have paid their attention towards the direction of the Willow, they could've seen a few pair of ankles making their way, on their own. They stopped a few paces before the menacing tree and prodded the knot, which is supposed to make the tree go still, with a twig.  
"Let's hurry. We only have few minutes before Moony go on a rampage." James stated, as they entered the secret passageway beneath the tree, one by one. "That's not funny. I might do that." Remus said, walking behind him, looking pale as ever.  
Slowly, they made their way to the shrieking shack. Remus collapsed a number of times on their way, his pain was increasing by every minute. As soon as they reached the closed room, he finally cracked. Sirius peeked outside the window: the full moon was finally out. He turned his attention back onto his wolf friend, who was rapidly turning into one. Remus groaned with pain as his face started to elongate, hairs were sprouting all over his body, his legs and hands stretched into clawed paws. The sound of his bones breaking and rejoining was chilling. The last human glint in his eyes, died as his fangs grew and he let out a loud, thundering howl.  
Sirius was standing frozen as Remus fully transformed into a Werewolf. This was the third time that he had seen Remus in Werewolf form, and he was still not used to it.  
"Padfoot! Transform." James yelled, getting a grasp on the situation himself. Sirius came to his senses with the yelling and concentrated for his animagus transformation.  
Their transformation was the only thing that made Remus' transformation much bearable, saner around, he said so himself. Being Animagi, was the decision James, Sirius and Peter made, when they studied about it two years ago, and it took them till the starting of their fifth year to master it. It was dangerous and Remus was against it but somewhere in his heart he was beyond jubilant to know that his friends had not abandoned him for his problem instead helping him through his difficult time.

Artemis P.O.V.  
'Tonight is full moon.' This thought hasn't left me since the morning, when I met Remus at hospital wing corridor. He looked sick and pale; his image is still vivid in my mind. I shifted restlessly on my bed, it was 2 am and there wasn't even a hint of sleep in my eyes. Annoyed by myself, I got up and headed for downstairs. I decided to wait up for them at the common room, _'_ _that should make me less restless'_ I thought.  
The common room was empty, obviously. I took a seat on the couch and waited, I paced back and forth around the common room and waited. I didn't looked at the time but it was pretty late when I started feeling drowsy.  
"They still hadn't showed up. I hope they are okay…" I thought. With that last thought, I drifted into sleep.

"Artemis. Hey… you alright?"  
"Why do we always have to find you like this? Do you not like sleeping in your bed or what?"  
 _'_ _I dozed off…I am hearing voices. Damn! Remus.'_ I jolted up straight, my drowsiness all gone in a matter of second. I adjusted my eye to the dark interior and saw four boys in front of me. _'_ _I am on the floor…. This situation is strikingly familiar.'_  
"I dozed off… I was waiting for you all." I explained. "…I was worried– Are _you_ alright?" I looked at all four of them. "…because the last time I remember, you were having all sorts of cuts and bruises."  
"It takes time to get used to it. Anyway… we are all right." Sirius replied. I analyzed him, his normal suave finish was missing, his clothes were torn in some places, other than that he was okay. I turned to the other three. Peter was least hurt, James had few scratches on his arms and Remus… well, he looked worst, he looked drained. Like someone had wringed him and left him in the dark, away from any sunlight.  
"You call this…." I gestured toward them, "…okay?" I rolled my eyes and got up from the floor. I reached to my small satchel, which I thought would be useful and took out a bottle. "Here… I don't know if you have them or not, but I arranged it from Professor Slughorn." They looked at me perplexed so I continued, "… don't worry it's safe. I cross checked it from different books and even from Madam Pomfrey. These are good relief from exhaustion and inner pains. I'm sure you'll feel as good as new tomorrow." I said with a smile and forwarded them the bottle.  
Remus took the bottle from me. "Thanks." "It's the least I could do, believe me." I added quickly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I should go to bed. And you should too."


	10. A day at Hogsmeade

Remus P.O.V.  
 _'_ _Should I ask her?' 'What if she say no?' 'I think it's just a crush, I'll get over it. I don't have to act on it.' 'No need to hurry. Start slow. Ask her on a date already.'_  
These were some thoughts that had been going on in my head ever since I admitted my liking towards Artemis. I hadn't told my friends yet, as I'm quite sure they would make it a big deal than it really is.  
"Remus, are you okay? You haven't moved your quill for past ten minutes." Artemis asked me over her parchment. We two were doing our homework in the common room after dinner. James and Sirius were having a detention right then while Peter retired early for the bed.  
"N-nothing. Just thinking some stuffs." I pulled back my thoughts and tried to concentrate back to my work. My reply might not had been that convincing as I saw some doubtful looks on her face but she didn't say anything after that. We completed our assignments in silence, and continued to read. I sneaked a glance of her every few minutes, suggesting myself _'_ _If you want to know how she feels about you, this is the perfect chance. We are alone and cannot be disturbed. Probably.'_  
"Say… Artemis, are you going to Hogsmeade this weekend? It would be your first visit." I thought to ease into the main question so, I started slow.  
She looked up from her book _Everyday Charms_ and straight into my eyes. "Oh, yeah… I have to ask about that from Prof. McGonagall, you know… regarding the permission. But I'll be not surprised if she denies it. She is quite strict about school rules and I don't have any permission letter from my parents or guardian." She smiled meekly. It can clearly be seen in her eyes that she wanted to go very much.  
"She will say yes, I'm telling you. Or the other students would start suspecting something, if you, a fifth year, is not allowed to visit, right?" I tried to reassure her.  
"I hope so…" She said with a smile, and went back to her reading. _'_ _Now'_ "…and if she allows you, ….would you like to–"  
Just then, the portrait hole opened and we heard a loud laughter. "– I think this is some kind of a record, to land a detention while being in a detention… I'm not saying I'm proud of it but… did you looked at Kettleburn's expression after we pulled that prank on him? It was totally worth it." Sirius said to James while he heaved with laughter. They both made their way to us and announced, "You won't believe what just happened."  
 _'_ _Damn it. I missed my chance.'_  
 _****_  
Hogsmeade weekend was near. This weekend was special because it was the first ever trip for Artemis. Her excitement doubled when she asked for the permission for visiting the village from Prof. McGonagall and after a little complication, she agreed to it.  
"Yes, Miss Hale. Do you want to ask something?" Prof. McGonagall asked Artemis after a transfiguration class, when she approached the teacher's desk.  
"Yes Professor. I wanted to ask about the next Hogsmeade visit." She voiced her query, feeling a bit nervous.  
"What of it?" Prof. McGonagall said.  
"I wanted to ask for the permission for my visit. I mean, I can't possibly bring a signed letter from my parents or guardian and it will be suspicious if I said 'my parent didn't signed the permission form' to my friends resulting to more questions from them and more lies from me… and lies makes me nervous." I concluded in one breath.  
Prof. McGonagall paused for few seconds considering my explanation and then said, "Very well, but I simply can't permit you instead of your parents. However given your condition, you are indeed our responsibility for the time being." She paused again. "I'll consult with Head master for this and let you know."  
Headmaster Dumbledore, however, gave her the permission to visit Hogsmeade. This joyous news she could only share with the marauders, who were the only one knowing her secret. She did not wasted a second to tell them this news.  
"Guess what, guess what?" Artemis skidded to halt in front of the marauders at the great hall before dinner. "I got the permission to visit Hogsmeade!" she was literally bouncing up and down on her heels.  
"That's great news." James beamed. "We will celebrate it with butterbeer, what say? Come with us to Hogsmeade. We'll have great fun."  
"Oh, but I promised the girls, that we'll go together." She said. "Maybe next time?"  
"Sure, sure." James replied.

Artemis P.O.V.  
I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't spent my Hogsmeade day with the marauders. I don't mean that my girl gang wasn't fun but being with Sirius…. Remus and James too, I feel less restraint.  
The Hogsmeade Saturday morning started early for me, I woke up earlier than usual. I tried to sleep some more but it seemed like it had abandoned me for good. The sun wasn't up and the chill in the air stung like needles despite of the heater in the room. It was clear that I was the only one up at this ungodly hour so, I thought to make good use of it and rolled up to the other side of the bed reaching to my school bag. I took out the book that I issued from the Library, conjured up a temporary ball of light and started reading. It was becoming my habit; whenever I wake up early I read. There was so much to learn aside from our assigned school books which I was always tempted toward.  
As the sun rose, I freed myself with all the daily chores, the others did the same as I groomed up for the day. It took one more hour for them to finish up; Alice took most of the time as today was her date with Frank and Lily was on her special duty to groom her. Today was all planned out- a girl's day out- all thanks to Lily: first some Christmas gift shopping, honeydukes, Clothes shopping, Three brooksticks, then Style-witches Parlour. It was such a tight packed schedule that it was giving me headache just to think about it. Anyway… even with the tight schedule I had my fun; Hogsmeade looked like a holiday card, with the Christmas nearby; Honeydukes was a paradise.  
We exited Honeydukes fully satisfied with ourselves; I was practically giddy, half of my bag was filled with just the fifteen different kinds of dark chocolates.  
"Now that we covered this place too…" Lily chimed, "…let's go to Glagrags, I heard they had just received a really awesome, new collection of dresses. Plus I need a new dress for Christmas."  
Marlene agreed to her as we started heading to the said shop. I was too busy watching the surroundings that I missed their conversation and came to senses of what was going on when she addressed me directly. "Temi! Did you listened to what I said at all?"  
I whipped my head to her. "Sorry, Lily. I was taking in the surroundings." She pouted at my response so I justified again, "don't be mad… it's my first time. I want to see everything. Anyway… what did you say?" I asked her innocently with my puppy eyes.  
She smiled at me and then said, "I asked 'what kind of dress you'll be buying?'"  
I mentally counted my remaining money and the lot I had spent today. It was not looking good. Since I was literally dropped from nowhere, with nothing but a bunch of my belongings, to this world, I didn't had any money on me. All my books and school stuffs were second handed; Dumbledore, however, gave me a small sum of money for emergency purposes.  
I had to get out of this situation.  
"… I forgot something. In the Honeydukes. I forgot to pick up the bag after the billing." Lily and Marlene were giving me a confused look. So, I added quickly, "Lily, why don't you go ahead with Marlene. I'll pick up the bag and come find you, alright?"  
"…Okay, if you say so." She replied, uncertainty in her voice. "Are you sure you'll not get lost? I mean, if you want, we can take a detour –"  
"Don't worry, I'll be alright." I called as I started walking back.  
I was wandering down the Hogsmeade main road for quite some time. Nothing else to do, I kept drifting wherever the road turned, thinking about many things that included, my mysterious life, memories, friends...  
"OUCH!"  
I fell straight on my butt. It would have hurt more, if it wasn't for the thick layer of snow that cushioned my bottom. _Damn, I bumped into someone._  
"Sorry, I wasn't looking–"  
"Ah, If it isn't our Arty…" I looked up with my watery eyes, James and Remus were towering over me. He lend me his hand and pulled me up. "What are you doing… alone? Weren't you with Evans and McKinnon?"  
"Yeah, I got out of there. They are… shopping."  
"Then come with us. We are going to Three Broomsticks." James offered me which I gladly accepted.  
"So, where are the other two?" I asked. It was Remus who answered. "Peter got hold up by Prof. McGonagall. Apparently, he did poorly in his last few assignments. And Sirius, last time I saw, was with–"  
Just then, as we passed an ally, I saw two figure at the end of it, snogging. It wasn't difficult to distinguish who they are, when one of them is your good friend. "Never mind, I get where he is." James and Remus seemed to notice what I was referring to, so, James commented, "That little…, when did he left us for that Revenclaw?"  
"…when you were too busy ordering gift for Lily. You didn't even noticed when he hit on that girl." Remus explained.  
For some reason I felt greatly irritated that I tuned myself out of the conversation. The scene of them entwined and snogging kept coming back to me. I was so occupied with the thought that I didn't even noticed that we entered the bar and took seating around a vacant table. It was James who brought me back to earth. "So, tell me, How it felt to be outside Hogwarts for once? Did you like Hogsmeade?"  
His question made me forget about what I saw just now. "Hogsmeade looks like a Christmas holiday card. And I'm totally enjoying it. Specially the shops…" I saw Remus reached our table with three butterbeers. He probably went to the counter and ordered when I wasn't paying attention. He forwarded a bottle toward me and took a seat beside me. "…Honeydukes was the best. You won't believe how much I spent just on the chocolates." I said, shaking my head at the thought of it.  
"You probably saying that because you haven't seen Zonko's yet." James went on when he saw confused expression on my face. "It's a joke shop. And every single thing inside it, is awesome." We sat there, drinking and talking for almost an hour. James described about every shops and places in the Hogsmeade and also the menu of the bar, which made Miss Rosemerta's work (the pretty girl that owned the Three Broomsticks) a lot less when she came to take order.  
"Looking pretty as ever…" a voice spoke from behind Rosemerta. My head turned toward the voice owner. The carelessly handsome face of Sirius peeked into view. "Sirius Black." Rosemerta said without even laying her eyes on him, "A butterbeer for you too, I presume."  
"You are such a doll." He said, winking at her. He turned toward us, taking the vacant seat with a huge grin and beamed, "Did you miss me?"  
James replied, without even glancing at him, "Who would miss someone who ditches their friends just to snog random people." To which Sirius added, "She is not just random people, for your information, she is the hot sixth year Revenclaw with whom I wanted to hook up since last year." he said with a grin but for some reason it did not reflect in his eyes.  
With the appearance of Sirius, and him describing that girl made me feel queasy in the stomach. _It must be all the sweets from before. and on top of it, butterbeer…._ I thought. I suddenly stood up. "I forgot… I had to meet the girls." I flashed a weak smile and walked out of the bar. I checked my watch; _'_ _they will be in the parlor, I should head there straight.'_  
 _'_ _I won't deny it. I know, the way I felt when I saw Sirius with that girl and when he was talking about her, it sickened me. I am starting to have feelings for him. I am not stupid. I know my feelings well._  
 _But he is not interested in me, it is clear as a day. I need to keep my feelings in check or I'll risk my friendship with him.'_

Sirius P.O.V.  
I saw her walked out the bar. She is again going out of my sight. I didn't knew she was to meet us at three broomsticks or I would have gotten here sooner…  
I am utterly confused.  
To keep her out of my head, I executed the plan to know her better, but that only made her more interesting. It annoyed me when she is not in my visible range. She distracted me way too much, so, I started hooking up more. I always kept myself busy but she just won't get out of my thoughts. What is happening to me? Why am I so obsessed with her? Should I talk to James about this? Will it be of any help?


	11. Invitation

The Christmas holidays arrived sooner than I anticipated. You know what they say, 'Time flies, when you are dreading something.' Christmas is a happy occasion but for me, who has forgotten her family and any other remotely related to her past, it is not a happy occasion. Everybody was busy with packing their stuffs and excited to meet their families for the holidays. I, on the other hand, buried myself in the books and homeworks more than ever, because I knew I didn't had anywhere to go to for Christmas. I knew, I will be spending the holiday alone, but still I waited for the last school day before the start of the holidays, to inform Prof. McGonagall about my stay. That morning, as she stood before the Gryffindor table taking names, I stood up from my breakfast, to make my way up to her.  
"You can't be full this fast! You have barely eaten anything." James said, in a surprised tone.  
I turned my attention toward him. Still standing, I answered, "It's the last day for informing McGonagall who are staying at Hogwarts for the holidays and I am going to enlist my name for it. I have procrastinated way too long." I gave him a goofy smile, climbed out of the seat just when James pulled me back toward him such that I fell back onto the vacated seat astride.  
"There's no need."  
I gave him a questionable look, trying to make sense of what he said. He sighed when I didn't respond. "There's no need because you will be coming to my house for Christmas. Now take your seat back and finish your breakfast."  
A smile stretched onto my face. _'I won't be alone this Christmas.'_ My head resounded the sentence.  
"Really?" I had to confirm that I heard correctly.  
"Of course. You are my friend. I'm surprised that I didn't noticed. I should've asked you earlier."  
James's invitation made my day. I didn't thought it would turn out like this; waking up to the thought of a very blue, lonely Christmas that turned out to be an invitation to friend's house, I was practically giddy and it showed on my face.  
"Someone's in a happy mood." Marlene stated, to which Lily and Alice agreed automatically. I said nothing but flashed her my teeth in return.  
"Hey, what's with all the secrecy?" Alice added.  
"It's a beautiful day. That's why I'm happy." I shrugged at her, still smiling like an idiot. All three of them eyed me suspiciously but I didn't care. The conversation ceased as we entered our end of the term Charms class.  
At the other end of the class, sat a certain four pranksters, totally aloof about the teacher and students.  
"…so that's how I ended up inviting Arty to my house." James grinned as he delivered the news to his other friends. "You should've seen her face, she was so ecstatic."  
"Wow… the one time when I slept late, something big happens…" Sirius said. He was of course happy with the invitation. After all, he too was going to spend this Christmas at James's place. _'Finally, I'll be able to sort my feelings towards her once and for all.'_  
Remus also took this piece of information positively. _'Great! This way I'll be able to see her during holidays at James's place.'_

_

"I see you've packed. Is this means that your parents are back in London for the holidays?" Lily asked, completing her packing of her trunk, late that night.  
"No." I said, feeling a bit guilty for lying to her again. "My parents are still out due to work. They are not coming for the holidays. I was all set to spend my Christmas here but James invited me to his house."  
"Hmm… they are your family friends, right?" I just nodded to her query. Shortly after that, we both went to bed. It took me a while to calm my already excited heart for the next day as I slipped into a pleasant slumber.

****  
We arrived at the 9 ¾ station the next day. The Hogwarts express was nearly full with over excited students, eager to meet their respective families. The whole journey passed with me darting from one compartment to other, between my two starkly different groups of friends- the marauders and my girl gang; Lily outright refused to sit anywhere close to James, hence, took the eighth compartment from his. Apart from me to and fro sprinting, I spent my rest of the time playing exploding snap, gossiping, a bit of reading and discussing our holiday plans with each other.  
"Look at you. Working out even in the train on our way back. Trying out for Olympics '100m dash'?" Remus asked me, after I entered their compartment for 'God-knows-how-many'th time.  
I stared at him darkly before sitting next to him. "You don't know how much I want James and Lily to hook up right now. Then I would have a bit of relaxation at least."  
"May your wishes come true, even if it is for your selfish reasons." James said, putting his palm on his heart.  
"What's an 'Olympics'?" asked Sirius but was overshadowed by Remus's question, "So, what happened now? You bailed out much earlier from your 'other friends' on the 'other side' of the train."  
"Snape happened. He was invited by Lily to sit for the rest of the train journey. I couldn't stand him and her talking trash about you, resulting in some heated conversation between him and me. So, I just marched out of there." I could hear myself seething, the last thing I wanted to feel or to show in front of James; whenever Lily and Snape were involved, James tend to not think straight. I saw hatred sky rocketing in the eyes of James so, I changed my tone immediately. "I didn't wanted my friendship with her to take a blow so I just walked out of there. I'll make it up with her later." I tried a weak smile.  
James subdued, he smiled at me and assured me, "She is a soft person. I'm pretty sure, she would forget about it the next time you talk to her. I can even give you a conversation starter, try 'James is an arrogant toe-rag'." Laughter filled the compartment, as my attention shifted totally towards my current circle of friends. Over the next few hours, we chatted, laughed as the train finally stopped at a certain concealed station. I shouldered my backpack (the same backpack which I had in a possession when I was stranded alone, memory less, in this world) and descended at the strangely familiar station. I bid my goodbyes to my girl gang, promising to write each other during the holidays, Lily was back to normal, gave me a big goodbye hug. Peter was the first to leave us followed shortly by Remus. Remus gave us a quick hug saying he would be visiting us in Potter Mansion. It was only a few moments later, that we were greeted by a soft, melodious voice. I turned around to see a rather aged couple making their way towards us, smiling and waving.  
Mrs. Potter embraced James into a rib-cracking hug before holding him at her arm's length, "My dear child… I missed you so much…"  
"Mom, it's only been like, three months." James said, returning her hug. "So what, can't a mother miss her only child?" She replied, with a motherly smile.  
Beside them, I saw Sirius and Mr. Potter conversing and catching up with each other. I was standing alone in the background, kind of feeling awkward as I didn't knew them. It was not long before Mrs. Potter noticed me. "Ah… and I haven't seen you before…"  
"Oh, mum, she is our friend, Artemis Hale. I invited her to spend the holidays with us. It's her first time here in England and her folks are out due to work." James said.  
"No problem, no problem. Your friends are always welcomed." Mrs. Potter smiled, as I approached to shake hands. Instead, she wrapped me up in a tight hug. "Dear… cheer up. I will make sure you enjoy your holidays to the fullest, even if you are away from your family."  
Meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Potter uplifted my mood for the Christmas. They reminded me of my parents, whom I then recalled vaguely. They were welcoming and were treating me like their own daughter. As we reached the Potter Mansion, it was already late in the evening. The whole journey had made me quite tired, due to which I was snoozing on and off throughout the road even with the ruckus, James and Sirius were making, in the car.  
"Did we reached already?" I asked groggily when the car engine stopped.  
"Yes dear, we are home." Mrs. Potter answered. I hopped down the car, in front of us I saw a grand mansion. It looked like a royalty to me. "Wow…." I was wide eyed, staring at it. All the way, when I heaved my backpack and walking up the driveway, I was just mesmerized by the beauty of the house erected in front of me. It was clear in my eyes that the house was an heirloom, the stone façade was something that used to be frequently designed in the early 19th century. I was surprised how well maintained the whole property was.  
"Now, if you follow me, I'll take you to your room." Mrs. Potter beckoned me as we entered the house. The house was as beautiful inside as it was from outside. The big living room with a grand chandelier looked almost ideal, like a set taken out right from a 19th century ball. We crossed the hall toward the staircase and began to ascend. My attention wandered on the photos hanging on the staircase wall; James's face, from toddler to teenager, peeked from many frames. "James, you look so cute and fat in these photos!" I stopped at the landing and pointed at one of those frames. I gave him a goofy smirk which stretched into a full grin when I saw James's face reflect a dark shade of red.  
"James was a fat child." Said Mrs. Potter entering the conversation, "but only because I gave him everything he wanted. My cinnamon mint cookies was his best and he wanted me to bake it every week."  
"No wonder he was fat." I added, still grinning like mad.  
"Okay, okay… now that we have established I was a fat ('and cute' prompted Mrs. Potter) child, let's head to your bedroom for this stretch of holiday!" James said as he started pulling me up the stairs and stopped only when we landed on the second floor. He unlocked the room on the far left.  
"This… will be your room." He gestured to the whole room while turning to face me. "You likey?"  
The room was fairly large, well lit, with a queen size bed, big mirror at one side and cupboards at the other. It felt like I was some kind of royal guest.  
"It's awesome." I said with a huge grin and then I walked up to him and gave him a hug. I just felt like it. "Thank you again James, for inviting me over. Or it would have been a lonely Christmas for me."  
"What are friends are for?" he replied me with a genuine smile.


	12. Remembering Mother

The next few days were a total bliss for the three Hogwarts students in the Potter's Mansion. The whole house was filled with merriment, happiness radiated from everybody's face. And in all these festivities, it seemed Artemis had temporarily forgotten her word of advice of keeping her feelings about Sirius, in check. Of course that happened because Sirius too had been reciprocating her attention and it is bringing them closer day by day, unconsciously. And then in a blink of an eye, Christmas arrived.  
"Merry Christmas!" "Rise and shine sleepy heads, its presents time!" Artemis entered Sirius's room and yelled in his ear. With all the sudden noise, Sirius shot opened his eyes and literally jumped out of his bed. Seeing Artemis in front of him, he asked, bewildered, "What happened? Who attacked?!"  
Laughing directly at his face, she replied, "Awesome expression you gave there. I should do this more often."  
Sirius's eyes narrowed. "You do know I'll take my revenge, right? And it won't be pretty." "Anyway, why did you wake me up so brutally?"  
Just then, James came running inside. "It's Christmas! Come on– downstairs– Presents!"  
With that cue, Artemis and Sirius rushed downstairs to the sitting room, following James. The sitting room looked like it was dipped in Christmas spirit; the huge Christmas tree in the corner, and its vicinity, enchanted with falling fake snow, decorated with tinsels, holly, mistletoes, scattered candies, and lastly, a huge pile of presents lying at the foot of the tree.  
"Merry Christmas!" Mr. and Mrs. Potter wished us as we entered the room. We gathered around on the floor for opening the presents.  
"I'll open mine first." James said as he snatched the first parcel which was addressed to him. He tore open the wrappings and pulled out a box. "Broomstick full servicing kit! I wanted these for my Nimbus. Great gift bro."  
James then proceeded to the other parcels. He found a copy of 'Quidditch through the ages' by Remus, a big box of Chocolate frogs from Peter. "That one is from me." Artemis prompted when he reached out for another one. James looked at the wrapping for few seconds before opening it. It was handmade; 'Merry Christmas, James' was written in small handwriting all over the wrapping which floated lazily around. James was mesmerized by the beauty and effort in it that he cautiously undid its wrappings, so that it won't tear off. Underneath that, he found a small rectangular paper. It was blank.  
"umm…. What is it?" James questioned, clearly confused to see an unusual gift.  
She grinned at him. "It is 'TIP- Think Ink Paper'. It reflects your emotions and converts it into visuals. I customized it a bit."  
Clearly mesmerized by it, James said, "Thanks. But how does it work?" He turned the small paper over and over trying to figure it out. By this time, it had already attracted the attention of the other three beings in the living room. Sirius was peering over James's shoulder to take a good look.  
"You have to channel your magic into it while thinking of something – anything." Artemis said.  
"Okay…" James took a deep breath and stared into the paper. Everybody in the room did the same. Seconds passed.  
"… exactly how should I channelize…?" James seemed perplexed. A loud groan escaped Sirius's mouth. "Just… hold it and concentrate on it. That should do the trick."  
"Okay, Okay. Here I go…"  
The small paper was the centre of attraction. After a few moments, the paper started to go dark at the places where it had been touched, spreading, like the ink was alive. It took a shape of a girl, a very familiar girl, laughing and opening presents under the Christmas tree.  
"It's Lily. Just now, were you thinking about Lily?" Sirius asked. James's eyes darted from the paper in his hands to Artemis and then to Sirius. He nodded. A faint red flushed across his face.  
"Is this the girl you are smitten by, all these years?" Mrs. Potter chimed as she too joined the three person huddle. "She looks pretty."  
"Mom!" James voiced while retracting the paper with his quidditch reflexes. "Can we just go back to opening presents?" his face was getting redder with each passing moment.  
Mrs. Potter chortled as her husband stepped forward with a rather big present box on his hand. They both shared a look before handing James his last present. "This… is from us. Hope you like it."  
James took the large box and began opening it. As he took the wrappings off, and the lid of the outer box, he started to anticipate what could be in it. And he predicted it right.  
"It's Nimbus's latest model!" he cried at the top of his voice.  
"What?! Nimbus 1500? No way…." Sirius jumped on his feet to take a good look. The broom looked absolutely stunning. The sleek design and the top notch speed were one of the many qualities that made the broom a professional's choice. Both boys were doting over it like no tomorrow when Mrs. Potter cleared her throat. James looked at her and reached up to give his mother and father a big hug. "Thank you so much!" "I can't wait to ride it and give it a try."  
The rest of the 'present opening event' passed by in hurry. Sirius got a variety of presents including numerous Zonko's products from James, a Quick Aid Kit from Remus, another box of Chocolate frogs from Peter and an exclusive muggle monthly magazine of 'Hot Bike' from Artemis.  
"It's a muggle Bike Magazine. But please don't open it now. You'll know why when you take a look at it." Artemis whispered to Sirius. He raised an eyebrow as a devilish smirk crawled up his face. "Ah… my favorite kind."  
"What are you two whispering about?" James question, narrowing his eyes. Sirius swiftly averted his gaze from the gift box in his hand to look directly at him. "Nothing." But his eyes said otherwise. Trying to divert attention from the ongoing exchange of looks that obviously looked quite lecherous, Artemis started opening her gifts with as much noise as she could make.  
The first present was from Sirius, he got her an elegant peacock quill, the next one was from James, who gave her a photograph of them, them being the marauders and Artemis, framed beautifully in a silver carved frame; Remus had given her a perfect leather bound diary. Peter again, had parceled a box of chocolate frogs as a gift.  
"Looks like Peter had outdid himself this time. He gave all of us boxes of Chocolate frogs as gifts. Not that I am complaining or anything but man, at least give it a proper thought on Christmas gifts for your best friends!" James whined while chewing on his box of Chocolate frogs. Artemis rolled her eyes as she continued to her next present.  
"Lily got me a present too!" She opened a small box adorned with a pretty ribbon on the top. It contained a small four leaf clover pendent. A smile formed on her lips.  
"You should put it on." Sirius said to her. "Here, let me help." He circled around her as he took the pendent. He undid the clasp, brushed aside her mane and fastened it around her neck. This action took Artemis totally by surprise. She shivered slightly as his fingers grazed softly on her neck. She could feel his warm breath on her bare skin. Butterflies suddenly erupted in the pit of her stomach that had subsided or to say it clearly, she had shoved deep inside her. "There. You're….It's pretty." Sirius breathed. This little incident went unnoticed by others but had created enough turmoil inside Artemis and Sirius.

The whole day was very nostalgic for Artemis, how she enjoyed the family time, and the merriment surrounding the house. But due to the same nostalgia, an ache was rooting deep inside her head. It kept bothering her all day but she was too happy to give a damn about it. It was like something trying to rise its head up, only looking for the right time to surge.  
It got what it wanted. Later that evening, Artemis entered the dining room with James and Sirius for the dinner. It was the Christmas dinner. Lavish, delicious and just family. Well apart from Sirius and Artemis. Mrs. Potter had made extra effort to consider and include both of their choices of favorite foods on the table. She had already accepted them as her own family. Despite of a constant helping hand offered by Artemis to her, she politely declined and ordered her to enjoy the night as a 'special guest'.  
The scene in front of her, the scene of a loving family gathered together for a meal, 'a mother setting up the table, a father helping her with whatever he can, and a sweet smell of caramel pudding lingering in the air', pulled the trigger on her. In that very second, a flood of memories swooped her away.  
The scene in front of her, hit her like a beater's bat. She stood rooted at her position, petrified, before she fell unconscious on the floor. Only one word could escaped her mouth, before she went cold, 'Ma'.  
The Potter family came rushing toward her, panic written on all of their faces but Sirius got there first. "Arty! Arty!" He called, trying to wake her up as he kneeled beside her head.  
"Did you see what happened to her?" Mr. Potter asked, in his worry ridden voice.  
"No. But she looked petrified before felling unconscious."  
Mrs. Potter checked Artemis's pulse while muttering some spells. "There's nothing serious. It seems like she's just fainted. I'll check her properly when she wakes up."  
"We should lie her down some place comfortable till she regain consciousness." Mr. Potter said.  
Sirius nodded slowly as he gently scooped her up and carried her to the bedroom.

 _Laughter echoed. Cutleries clattered. A small happy family was enjoying their dinner, just like every other night._  
 _"_ _Tonight's dinner is remarkably delicious. What's the occasion, Mom?" Artemis asked, on her second helpings of the pudding._  
 _"_ _No reason. I just thought we could use a little merriment for our taste buds." Mrs. Hale said. Artemis 'hmm'ed in understanding, paying no attention to her parent's exchange of looks. "Speaking of dinners, your aunt Dolly called." She added slowly. "She had invited us to dinner tomorrow. And we were thinking you should come too."_  
 _"_ _Now I understand what this dinner means. It is to bribe me to say yes for the invite." Artemis said, but her eyes never left her plate._  
 _"_ _Not bribe. Just incentive. Besides… you could use some of the fresh country air." Her mom nudged her towards the idea._  
 _Artemis hated going to her aunt's place, not because she hated her, in fact, her aunt was one of the kindest person she had ever known. She hated the place because the area was so remote that there was hardly any cell reception let alone internet connection. Seeing no excuses left to make her stay, she used her trump card. "Okay mom." Mrs. Hale was astonished to hear her daughter's sudden agreement. "There's one thing though. There is a weekly test at school the day after tomorrow and I want to study for it thoroughly. And don't forget about my piles of homework. I have to complete it before the week ends." She lied easily about the test but her homework part was completely true. She was a great procrastinator and was on the edge of her teacher's patience._  
 _"_ _Ohh…" Mrs. Hale looked dejected._  
 _"_ _It's okay, Aurora. Don't look so dejected. Education always comes first." Mr. Hale gave a kind, understanding smile, looking at which, Artemis instantly felt guilty for half lying to her parents. "Look at the bright side. My baby girl is being responsible to her life."_


	13. The 'Cave' Test

James had never seen Sirius this anxious before. It's been two hours since Artemis fainted and he never left her side for a moment. He had seen him pace back and forth, sit and stand back up from at least four different places and back to pacing, around the room. He was worried about Artemis too but watching Sirius being like this was new to him. Euphemia had checked Artemis already and said that all her vitals were normal but she was yet to regain her consciousness.  
"If nothing is wrong with her, she should have been woken up by now." Sirius finally said after a really long silence.  
"We can only wait." James replied. But Sirius was not satisfied. He voiced again, "Or what if this has something to do with her condition? Remember, when we found her that night in the middle of the ground, Pomfrey had checked her up and said there's nothing wrong with her physically?"  
"It is a possibility. But then again, we can only wait to find out about that." James tried to reassure him. He knew, he can't do anything except reassuring Sirius for now. There was another long pause before he spoke again "It's hard to believe that we have known her only for two months now, you know. It doesn't feel like it."  
"Yeah." Sirius breathed.  
"And it's also hard to believe that we would find someone who could make their way into our group." James added.  
"Yeah because she is different… different from other girls." Sirius said. "She even trusted and followed me to that cave on the cliff and I'm telling you, it's not easy to convince a girl to descend down a cliff just on the basis of trust. Believe me, I've tried."  
James was taken aback after hearing this piece of information. "Are you kidding me? You seriously took her to that cave and she agreed?!" He cannot believe his ears even when Sirius reconfirmed it.  
A wide grin formed on James's face which soon turned into fits of laughter. _'_ _I can't believe he forgot what he told me a year ago.'_  
"You are laughing…. Why are you laughing?" Sirius said, totally perplexed by his best friend's behavior, but he only got more laughter in return for an answer. Sirius, who was losing his patience, raised his voice. "Oi! I'm gonna kick your ass if you don't stop laughing and explain to me what is so funny that you are risking yourself to be dragged to St. Mungo's for paranoia, by me!"  
Gasping for breath, James took his seat again (He fell off the chair, earlier while laughing.). Just as he started to explain what he recalled, he saw a movement on Artemis's bed. "You better have a damn good for laughing at me for so–"  
"Padfoot! Arty is waking up!"

Artemis opened her eyes slowly as the boys hurried toward her bed. She gave them a weak smile as she tried to lift her upper body. It ached in pain. A low groan escaped her mouth. "No, no… Stay as you are."  
"No need to worry, James. I was unconscious, not terminally ill."  
"Arty, you were out cold for two hours! It was obvious we were worried. No body faints for hours for nothing." This time it was Sirius who replied, taking a seat next to her on the bed. Artemis looked bewildered by the accusation. "I was unconscious for two hours?!" her voice was all high and squeaky. "I can't believe it…I mean I'm not even anemic."  
"Mom checked you earlier. She said there is nothing wrong with you physically." Artemis's bafflement was diverted to James, "…and we were thinking…" as he jerked his head towards Sirius and himself, "…that this fainting could be related to your amnesia."  
Artemis had gone all stiff after James's theory. She realized what she had recalled from her memory earlier, that was the cause for her fainting. The sadness immediately reflected on her face. "I remembered mom. My family." James and Sirius didn't say anything. But there was a hint of surprise and happiness on their faces. Artemis continued, her eyes fixed on her fingers, fiddling with her duvet. "When I saw your parents at the dinner table…. And the sweet scent of caramel pudding…" she laughed weakly. "… we were having the same dinner, the last time we were together." Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks as she recited. "How could I have ever forgotten them? I'm a really bad daughter". Nothing escaped from her mouth after that; she just sat there, crying silently. _I need to comfort her, Sirius thought._ Couldn't bear to see tears in her eyes, he hugged her, just like that. He hugged her and she melted into his arms.  
"I miss them, Sirius." She said quietly, after a long pause.  
"I know." He replied.

****  
James was literally bouncing on his feet, afterall he was happy for his best friend. James never imagined he wouldn't see a day where Sirius would fell for a girl. He would not had believed, if some other person had told him this piece of information, but now that he had seen for himself, he couldn't stop being all smug. _How he knew, you ask?_  
This all happened about a year ago, in their fourth year. The four mischievous kids, who had broken a million school rules by now, were yet on to their another mischief. However, this time it was sheer dumbness instead of bravery.  
"Arghhhhhhh…..."  
A Panic stricken scream echoed around the Owlery. Hearing the voice of their friend, three school boys ran toward him. "Prongs!" "Are you okay?" "What happened?" Concerned voices rang one after the other.  
"Moony…. Help me…What do I do?" James whined. He was standing on the stairs that connects the owlery to the rest of the Hogwarts, and making puppy faces while pointing downwards at something down the cliff. "What's down there?" Remus asked, in a reprimanding voice, "What did you do?" he still hadn't posted the letter he wanted to, for which he came to the Owlery the first place.  
"I dropped the photo."  
Sirius gasped animatedly at James. "What?! You didn't! you dropped _'_ _the photograph'_." Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius's overreaction. "The only photograph of Lily _and_ you, taken _accidently_ by a stranger, the one that you purchased at a ridiculous price!"  
"Yes, that's the one!" James replied, still whining. Sirius opened his mouth again to mock the situation but decided not to, when he saw his best friend's expression go morbid every second. "Prongs, if the photo flew down the cliff, then even we can't do anything."  
"Did you try the summoning charm?" Peter asked. James's expression grew darker, if that is possible, after hearing the question. "We can't summon it. I put an anti-summoning charm on it, so that Lily couldn't summon it back. It was her's after all."  
"It's right there! I can see it. Look, beyond those crevices… balancing at that narrow protrude. Ugh! I can't take a proper shot at it!"  
"That's it. We only have one option. I am going down that cliff."  
Hearing James's declaration, Remus gave an expression that surely said 'He has gone mad'. "Prongs, listen mate. I know you are sad because you lost Lily's photograph, but that doesn't mean you have to become suicidal."  
"No! I'm Serious."  
"No. _I am_ Siri –." Sirius prompted automatically. Remus glowered at him before he even completed his 'serious' joke. "Don't. Now is not the time. Your friend is having suicidal tendencies and you are here cracking jokes that's _not even funny!_ "  
"He is not being suicidal. You heard him." James nodded to back Sirius up. "Come on. It'll be fun, interesting, full of adrenaline! Besides, James is already down the cliff." and without waiting for Remus to counter, he too stepped down the cliff.  
The cliff was twice as hard to climb down as it looked from above. Slowly making their way toward the photograph, James and Sirius put every step with great care. The rock protrudes on the cliff were narrow and sometimes slippery, but they somehow made it through. James was lucky that the photograph was still there when he pick it up even with the mild wind. But their little adventure did not end up there. As they started to climb back up, Sirius stopped.  
"Don't stop, Padfoot. It's hard enough to climb this cliff, but to stop in the midway –"  
"Something's there at our 4 o'clock. I'm going to check it out…"

"I can't believe there is a place at Hogwarts like this and we are discovering it now!" James chortled. Remus, who had finally climbed down and entered the cave, wondered, "I think we are the only one who had ever set foot here. I really doubt there are other knuckleheads who would dare to climb down here."  
"This place is amazing… I think, I am in love with this place. It's a great place to hide and nobody will ever suspect it. You know… if we ever need it." Sirius added with a naughty smile. "I think I have found 'It'."  
James and Remus both stared blankly at him. When Sirius didn't get the 'supposed response' from either of them, he continued impatiently, "Guys… This is It! Remember when I told you I'll find something that will help me to find out the 'right girl' for me? _This is the place._ This is _It._ " James and Remus were still giving an incredulous expression but Sirius rambled on. "This is a special place… and I think if I ever decide to show this place to a girl, she has to be special." He said. "…and brave of course. No sane person would come down to this cave if it hasn't been for guts." He added as an afterthought.  
James exchanged looks with Remus. They both were surprised, they had never seen Sirius being so serious about girls.  
"Everything aside, now where exactly is Wormtail?"

"Ah…. He didn't came down."


	14. Remus's Visit

_'_ _Isn't it a bit early?' 'I should've come in the afternoon. I'm almost sure, none of them had left their beds by now.' 'It's so cold!'_  
Remus's thoughts had kept him busy throughout the journey from his home to James's. Earlier today, he decided to pay his friends a surprise visit, so he set out as soon as daybreak. Impromptu plans were never his forte, that's why the moment he set off to James's house, he had been on a constant debate with himself on the surety of his plan. Right now he was walking through James's neighborhood. He had this neighborhood's paths memorized by heart. Every summer or any other holidays, he had visited this place for nth time. It was like his second home. Remus glanced his surroundings as he made his way up to the Potter Mansion: the snow covering the path, trees and houses, were still fresh, like someone had laid it recently. Even though the day had started, far less people were outside, let alone walking on the pedestrian in the outskirts of London. His eyes automatically went to his watch: _'_ _8 o'clock, huh… I guess this is the limit for my dillydallying. Why in the name of Merlin, had I left so early?!'_  
Immediately his thoughts went to Artemis. The thought of being able to see her after so long (It's only been over a week) quickened his pace. In less than five minutes, he was at their doorstep. He knocked twice and waited patiently. Suddenly a loud thump reached his ear and even before he could muster a reaction to it, the door flew open.  
"Moony! It's so good to see you!"  
"Me too, Prongs! You are awake! And here I was thinking, I am far too early to visit." Remus said with a big smile on his face.  
"Oh, you are, you are!" James replied shaking his head.  
They both hugged and were still exchanging greetings when a wave of cold breeze rattled them to the core.  
"Merlin, its cold… let's get you inside." James said as he put his arm around Remus and brought him inside. Once inside, Remus shed his travel coat and boots at the stand and entered the kitchen. Mrs. Potter welcomed him like a second son and served him a hot tea.  
"So… where is everybody? I'm really surprised you are up and about at this hour." Remus said, blowing off on his hot tea. James, sitting on his left side, copied his action. "You know how they are…. Such lazy gits. _Me_ , on the other hand –"  
" _You_ are their leader in terms of laziness. It's really a mystery how and why you are awake so early today…" Mrs. Potter prompted from the other side of the kitchen as she tossed pieces of bacon in the fryer.  
"…I saw you coming from my window when I woke up to pee earlier." James admitted in a small voice. Laughter burst out from Remus's mouth, nearly choking on his tea. "Hahaha… I was lucky then… and you made it sound so superior." He said, wiping off his laughter tear. In the corner, Mrs. Potter was laughing silently, too.  
"Hey, did I heard Moony's…" Sirius called lazily as he entered the kitchen, yawning wildly. "Moony! You really _are_ here! and here I thought, I had started hearing voices again. How are you mate? Hah… you must be nuts to travel so early?" He bro-hugged Remus and took a seat across him.  
"Ah… forgive me that I'm so dumb, traveling in this cold, just to meet my friends…" Remus said with a deadpanned face. "… seriously, what a friend gotta do to get some appreciation here!"

"Good mornin' Mrs. Potter." Artemis greeted as she entered the kitchen. "May I help you with anything?" Still in her pajamas, she reached up to the kitchen counter and pour herself a cup of coffee. Remus eyes traced her morning face as she yawned, scratched her nose absentmindedly while stirring up her coffee. ' _Damn, she is cute when she does that!'_ This whole time she didn't even noticed there was one extra person sitting at the dining table.  
"Thank you for the offer dear, but why don't you go and enjoy your morning coffee with your friends?"  
"Hmm? What?" she looked at her blankly but when realizing what she was suggesting, she turned around to face the rest of the kitchen. Her eyes went wide with surprise. "Remus!" He was a little taken aback when she rush up to give him a big hug. "How..? When? You are so early or did I slept all day?!"  
"Why would you believe that?"  
"…because… it's not even 9 o'clock… and it's cold. Who travels so early when it's this cold!?"  
"That's what I said!"  
"Stop it Padfoot. That's not what you said. You called Moony nuts!"  
"But he is! If you wanted to come here, didn't it occurred to you to use the floo network? There was no need for you to be outside… unless you wanted to freeze your balls."  
"Mind your language, boys!"

* * *

Artemis P.O.V.

I could feel the warmth of the sun on my bare skin even with the cold air blowing past me. The rustling sound of the wind made me feel like I had wings. I closed my eyes, wanting to capture the feeling, in my long term memory as I decelerated. I never would have thought flying would feel like this.  
"Stop showing off!" Sirius called, somewhere from below. I smirked at his comment as I took another turn on James's old broomstick that he let me borrow.  
"I'm not! This is my first time riding a broomstick. At least let me savor it while it lasts." I complained and stuck out my tongue.  
"Look Padfoot, what you have done. She is even behaving like you." James tried to comment, at the top of his voice, even when he was on the other side of the make-shift quidditch pitch, at the backyard of the mansion.  
"Oh, Come on… you can't compare me to him. My head can never get as big as his." I replied to James as I turned toward him and hovered somewhere in front of him. I tried to stifle my laugh but the silent laughter of Remus made it hard to do that.  
"Hey! I'm right here!" Sirius pouted as he too joined us, making an expression that made us laugh more.  
"Arty, you are becoming mean." Sirius huffed.  
"Like I said… behaving just like you!" we all laughed harder when Sirius gave up on us.  
Since, Remus had come to visit, it was mandatory for the marauders to do a friendly quidditch match. And also, in James's case to show his new broom. So, the game started, I was teamed up with Sirius, and Remus with James, since, James and Sirius were good Quidditch players, we had to balance the team. For some reason, James insisted being on the team with Remus.  
"So, the rule is simple. We have one hoop each –" Sirius motioned toward the temporary hoops we erected, consisting of some resourceful use of old enlarged versions of stick nets, " –We have two chasers in each team, whoever scores 10 goals first, wins the game. Any questions?"  
"Yes." I asked, pointing out James, "Why James is looking so stupidly smug? He surely did something, that we don't know of." Everybody turned to look at him. He indeed had a smug look on him.  
"Nothing. I'm just happy, for my friends,… and holidays!" James chirped. "…anyway, let's start the game!"  
The game was awful. For me. I mean, I knew I'm not good at catching balls but what I experienced from the game was downright offensive to any and every player of the world. I single handedly missed four possible chances to score and pass the ball. I was actually surprised why anybody hadn't said anything.  
"That's it! I'm not playing anymore." I finally declared as I dropped another passing ball. I slowly descended the ground and sat down right in the middle of the make-shift pitch. The other three soon followed me. Without even giving them a chance to reply, I said again, "How can you still let me play? I literally haven't done anything. I mean, a six year old child could play better than me." "I feel so stupid…" I mumbled.  
"Arty… It's just a game. Why are you being so competitive?" Sirius said as he sat down beside me.  
"Because… I wanted to play…good. It looked so…free, fantastic, by a spectator's point of view. I wanted to _be_ that." I finished, quietly.  
This time James replied to me. "Hey… this is your first time. Don't be so strict on yourself. It's just the matter of practice."  
"Yeah… don't worry. Even these two idiots had hard time when they first started." Remus said, trying to cheer me up. "For now, just concentrate on having a good time." A smile spread on my face on hearing this. I stood up, taking the extended hand from Remus. "Aww… look at you. Making up crap to cheer me up." I gently patted him on his cheek. Remus's face turned red when Artemis did that. Luckily, nobody paid attention to it. "I know these two can never be bad in quidditch. But that surely cheered me up." "Now, let's go and complete that game with my god awful talent!" I cheered on as I picked up my borrowed broomstick.

The game resumed. James-Remus pair had scored seven goals by now whereas Sirius-Artemis had only scored four. The game was heavily one sided by the means of pure talent and pure clumsiness. At one time, Artemis even got rammed into Remus just because she was looking at the ball and not her surroundings. Soon, they were called by Mrs. Potter for lunch. By that time, they were so hungry that they didn't even bother to complete the game. Planning to resume it some other time, they returned back to the house.

* * *

"We had a lot of fun today… It's a shame it went by so fast." Artemis said, lying on James's bed. A good, delicious lunch had made them relaxed in many ways, which resulted in a sudden urge to do nothing. Hence, they all camped in James's room, some playing exploding snap, and some just lying on the bed. Remus and Sirius, who were playing exploding snap, agreed to what Artemis said. "Is it necessary to return today itself? Why don't you spend the night here and return tomorrow?"  
Hearing the request of spending the night from Artemis, made Remus's heart flutter. However he replied, "My father will be returning home today. I have to be there."  
"It's alright for now, but you have to stay for sleepover during New Year's. You know, with the Party and all…" James said, over some letter he was writing, by the window.  
At that moment, the cards exploded, marking the end of the play. "Yeah, sure." Remus replied, wafting off the smoke from his face.  
 _'_ _This is it. This is the perfect chance to ask Artemis out. This time I'll surely do it!'_ thought Remus. A smile spread over his face, thinking about the decision he finally had made.


	15. The Kiss

Hello everyone! this is the longest chapter I have ever written. I didn't even realized it was this long until later. anyway, it's worth it, for the story to take the desired turn. Enjoy! :D

* * *

"Aren't you ready yet?" Mrs. Potter said, exasperated by saying the same line over and over again.  
"Hmm, in five minutes." James said, while moving his rook to slaughter Sirius's bishop, without even looking up. Artemis, who was sitting a little farther from both of them, glanced up when he replied. Mrs. Potter was standing at the door's entrance, frustrated, as she tried to balance a load of stuffs within her grip. Sirius groaned as another of his chess piece got annihilated. "…aw man, not again. I was careful this time!" They continued to play as if there had been no disturbance.  
"Are you boys even listening?!" Mrs. Potter's patience caved in. Both the boys jumped up from their place; Artemis was little surprised to hear Mrs. Potter raise her voice, she hardly ever did that. "There's hardly any time left when the guests starts coming. At least be ready to welcome them!"  
"…. But mom, its only 6 o'clock. The party won't start till 8 pm." James said bluntly. This reply fumed her even more. It was clear, how much effort she was putting in making this soiree a success. The Potter mansion had been hosting the New Year eve party every year. It was like a tradition, and Mrs. Potter did not wanted any mistake in it.  
She took deep breaths before she spoke in a dangerously calm voice. "I know you can't understand the importance of connections now, so I'm just gonna forget what you said and expect you to be ready in ten minutes." The menacing aura escaping from Mrs. Potter, made them agree without any further comments or any dissent. "Good. Now hurry up." and with that, she went back downstairs.  
Silently, all three of them dispersed to their rooms.

* * *

"Uhhh….." Artemis groaned again. For past fifteen minutes, she was trying to find one good piece of clothing that she brought from Hogwarts which will be suitable for a party but she was failing miserably. She didn't thought there would be such event where she had to wear a dress. The closest thing she had was a black tunic that she had worn on her first day of visit to the Potter Mansion, the rest of her clothes were leggings, jeans and some t-shirts –totally not suitable for an evening party. Having no choice, she put on the tunic, paired it with her one of the last cleaned leggings and her only pair of boots.  
She descended down the stairs, remembering Mrs. Potter's words 'come down once you dressed up'. In the short span of time, the interiors of Mansion was fully decorated by fairy lights, drapes and flowers. She found Mrs. Potter in the living room giving it some finishing touches.  
"Mrs. Potter, you need any help?" Artemis called as she entered the room.  
"Oh, yes. I do need you. Just come here for a second." She answered, without removing her sight for the centerpiece flowers, which she was trying to rearrange. Artemis followed the trail of dropped petals and discarded flowers up to her and waited for her to finish. It took a while but when it was done, Mrs. Potter turned to address her. "Dear, I have a work for you. Can you fix –" she stopped in her mid-sentence abruptly.  
"Artemis dear, why haven't you dressed up yet?" She asked, perplexed. "I thought you did went to get ready."  
Artemis's face got flushed with embarrassment. "I….umm… this is the best I have right now."  
"Oh, I am sorry, dear. I blurted out so bluntly." She said to herself, "It should've been obvious, you weren't prepared…" She went silent, trying to think how to solve the problem. Suddenly she gasped and grabbed Artemis's hand. The twinkle in her eyes reminded Artemis of a fifteen year old girl.  
"This is perfect…."  
"What is?!"  
Without saying further any words, Mrs. Potter pulled her all the way to her room. She was utterly bewildered by Mrs. Potter's actions to even question her. _She looks excited for some reason. She has the same expression as James whenever he gets excited about anything,_ Artemis thought.  
Mrs. Potter slammed the bedroom door shut, finally letting go of Artemis's hand. She walked right across the bedroom, and towards her closet. Artemis was gaping at her all this time, trying to figure out what actually is going on. After digging for almost ten minutes, Mrs. Potter emerged from the piles of clothes, with a big box. She beamed at Artemis as she laid the box on to the bed.  
"Umm… what is this, Mrs. Potter?" Artemis asked reluctantly.  
"Well, find it out yourself!" She chimed.  
Confused, Artemis took the box and opened it's lid. Underneath, was a black gown? Surprised, she looked back at Mrs. Potter to confirm what she was seeing. "Put in on!" She nudged forward.

Artemis was gawking at her image in the full length mirror, in the changing room. She was astound to see how a mere change in clothing can alter someone's whole image. The black soft fabric was wrapped delicately around her body, supple like water. The intricate silver patterns from the neck to her waist, created a beautiful contrast to the dress. _I haven't see more beautiful dress than this,_ thought Artemis. She finally came out of the changing room, looking dazed.  
"Did you like it?" asked Mrs. Potter eagerly.  
"I love it!" replied Artemis.  
Mrs. Potter beamed. "You look so pretty. You know…I wore this dress when Fleamont proposed to me. Since that day, I had saved this dress, thinking, if I had a daughter, I would give this to her. That day didn't came…" She sighed, " –but you did." She came up to Artemis and said while stroking her head lovingly. "Wear this dress tonight and enjoy the evening like I did so many years ago."

* * *

It took about half an hour for Mrs. Potter to make Artemis completely ready for the party. She did pretty much everything, from her hair to her make up. At the end of the whole session, Mrs. Potter literally swore she had not seen any girl so listless like Artemis when it came to dressing up. She literally just combed her hair and said she is done with her 'being ready' part.  
When Mrs. Potter had done stylizing Artemis's hair and did a basic makeup (she kept rubbing her eye), she thanked her for the dress and the efforts she put on her as she left for her room.  
"Wait! Do you have a footwear that will go with the dress?" Mrs. Potter called from behind.  
Artemis, who was already on her first landing, called back. "Don't worry Mrs. Potter, I'll manage!" She continued to climb up as she thought, _'_ _No way in hell I would wear those ridiculous high heels that Mrs. Potter was offering.'_ As she climbed up, she nearly tripped on the hem of the dress two times in a row. "…These. Damned. Long. Hems!" she cursed as she again escaped a near-miss fall. Frustrated by her own clumsiness, she picked her gown up to her knee and continued to ascend.

* * *

Sirius P.O.V.  
"Geez… it only takes a few minutes to get ready, so, why in the name of Merlin's saggy pants were we reprimanded to get dressed up." Sirius muttered to himself as he descended down a floor to get to James. Turning left of a landing, I found myself looking down at Artemis, who was, apparently, struggling with her gown. I felt heat rushing to my face as I watched her. She was looking different from any other day. Good different. All of her mane was properly pinned up elegantly with some loose locks framing her face. She looked beautiful.  
She looked so captivated that it totally diverted my attention to what she was doing. It was so adorably innocent that I couldn't stop grinning.  
"…These. Damned. Long. Hems!"  
I laughed as she cursed at her dress. She then picked up her gown, freeing her bare legs to avoid tripping (again) and climbed up. She stopped as she reached up to me.  
"Real elegant." I mocked her. "You know, you could be the reason why they invented short dresses."  
"This dress is a bit long and I keep tripping on it. I can't help it!" She huffed.  
"I don't know if you are aware of it but it would create problem for others if you keep tripping like this the whole evening." I tried to explain.  
"Ah… don't worry. I'll be wearing my boots. It will even out the difference." She said with her carefree attitude, flashed a smile and continued her climbing.  
I watched her vanish behind her bedroom door as many thoughts crept into my mind. 'How can someone be so unpredictable, look so suave yet act like a child, immature and mature on a whim?'

* * *

Lately, a certain girl has been reigning on my mind. She is not a perfect girl or one of those who yearns for every boy's attention. She is unpredictable, reliable, so adorably innocent… it keeps me thinking about her more and more. I think something is changing inside me. . . I'm losing interest in other girls. My mind keep chasing after that one girl. . . thinking about. . . . how it feel like to hold her. . . to kiss her. . .  
Sirius walked up to the table to pick up another bottle of butterbeer. His mind was a mess. Just now, he turned down a girl who was hitting on him, even tried to kiss him and not in a subtle way. He can't figure out why he turned her down. She was definitely hot, sexy but all he could think about was her. . . Artemis Hale.  
I looked at my watch. It was almost 12 o'clock. Almost new year. It reminded me of her. It made me want to start my new year with her. So, I frantically searched for her through the crowd of people. So many people. It seemed they got increased in number just to be in my way. I searched the living room, the entrance hall, but couldn't find her. _'_ _Where she could be?!'_ I thought. _'_ _With Lily? No. I just went past her. She was with Mar.' 'Maybe Prongs… or Moony!'_ I put my whole concentration in finding my two best friends.  
"Prongs!" I called as soon as I located him. I rushed up to him. "Prongs… hey! Umm… do you know where Arty is?" But he didn't answer. Instead, he kept looking somewhere at my back. Confused by his reaction, I turned around to look what he was looking at. Just then, the bell indicating midnight, struck. And with that bell, my reality struck to me too:  
I had already fallen for Artemis.  
Just outside in the garden, I saw Remus kiss Artemis. And she was kissing him back.

* * *

4 hours earlier.  
"Right on time!" James exclaimed as he let Remus in. He flashed James a big grin as he peeled off his travelling coat and put it on the stands.  
He looked around the entrance hall as he spoke, "Looks like I'm the first."  
"Yeah, other people tend to come 'fashionably late'. . ." James air-quotes as he explained. "Thank God, that it's you who came first. I really don't like making small talks with people I barely know. . . "  
"Where are everyone?" Remus questioned.  
"Umm… let's see. Wormtail still hasn't arrived…" James stated as he counted them on his fingers. "Artemis is with my mom helping her with. . . I don't know, something. Dad should be… the last time I saw, was talking with someone in the fireplace. And lastly Padfoot, he, I am pretty sure, is in the kitchen, trying to persuade Patty (their house elf) to serve him food before everyone."  
As James finished his explanation, they entered the kitchen, where Sirius was doing exactly what James had just said.  
"Ah! Prongs and Moony!" he covered the whole distance in a few strides, "Prongs… tell your elf to give me food. Pleeease." He pleaded.  
"See, what did I tell ya." James commented as they both laughed while Sirius gawked, confused, at both of them.

Remus had come to the party, decided on one thing that he absolutely had to do tonight. He was going to ask Artemis out. But how, he didn't knew. He didn't seemed to know how to approach her. He glanced at her direction: she was there, standing, drinking her butterbeer with Lily and few other girls.  
He sighed unconsciously. This whole scene did not go unnoticed; James saw the longing in Remus's eyes. He understood at once the look Remus wore, it was filled with the same feeling he had towards Lily. He followed his line of sight to uncover the girl's identity who had made Remus fall in love with her. But right there, James made a big mistake: when he looked in that direction, he mistook Cas Marie for the girl, Remus in love with, as she was one of those girls standing in the vicinity of Artemis. Since James knew Sirius liked Artemis, he ruled out her as a possible love interest of Remus. Instead, he looked for another familiar face and found Cas, who was standing just next to her.  
"Keep your eyes on your way not on that girl." James said to Remus. Remus turned his neck sharply toward James, his sudden voice pulled him out of his trance. He blushed furiously on hearing his words. "Wh- what girl?" he stammered.  
"Oh, don't be oblivious now. I saw you totally checking her out." James added with a teasing smirk. "You like her, don't you?"  
"Yeah…" Remus sighed again. "I like her a lot and I was planning of asking her out tonight but…. I don't think I could muster enough courage to execute it."  
Hearing Remus's worries made James laugh out aloud. Remus looked hurt when he saw his best friend laughing at his misery. "That's mean, you know." He said.  
"No, no." James corrected himself, ceasing his laugh to reply. "I didn't meant to laugh at you. I just remembered that you are worrying for nothing." James said, still thinking the girl to be Cas Marie. He recalled a number of times when he had noticed Cas, their Gryffindor chaser, sneaking a glance too often with the yearning look toward Remus during Quidditch practice or in the class. "She likes you, Mate. I have seen her looking at you every time." he nudged him forward. "Go for her. Ask her out tonight!"  
Remus gave him a perplexed look. "What? Are you sure? What if I get rejected?"  
James grinned at his questions. "Dude, the way she looks at you, I doubt she'll ever reject your any proposal. Now go!" and he pushed him, forcefully, forward.  
James kept looking as Remus approached her. But soon his happy, excited face turned into shocked, anxious one when he saw him walked past Cas and go straight up to Artemis.  
 _'_ _Artemis! He liked Arty?! But I thought… '_ a queasy feeling started to rose inside of James stomach thinking about the consequences of what he had done just now. _'_ _Oh, Godric, What have I done… I pushed Moony forward towards her even when I knew Padfoot liked her…'_

* * *

Remus P.O.V.  
I glanced at my watch, _only few minutes left to midnight_ , I thought. Reinforcing my determination, I approached her. Surprisingly, and lucky me, she was alone. She looked flawless in the black dress under the night sky. The fairy lights at the backdrop only made her more exclusive to me.  
"Hey… what are you doing here, all alone?"  
"Nothing… I just wanted some fresh air."  
I looked at her, straight in her eyes. Her eyes reminded me of dark chocolates, contrasted with her face, blushing slightly due to the cool air or probably the alcohol.  
"Arty. . . I need to tell you something."

* * *

Artemis P.O.V.  
"Temi! You look fabulous!" Lily greeted me with a compliment.  
"Lily you came! You don't know how much I was dreading that you'll not come just because it was James's party. But thank Lord you came! It is so good to see you after so many days." I beamed at her.  
"Ah… don't thank Lord. Thank Mar. She literally dragged me from my house to here with her." Lily laughed as Marlene flashed her brilliant smile victoriously.  
"Good job Mar." I winked at her as I brought them inside. "Alice is already here. She is somewhere there…" I gestured toward my left. "I'll come find you in five to ten minutes. I… have to do something." I waved them again and rushed toward my room. My back was itching again and I was dying to scratch it off. I had never experienced it before but now I know: any tight dress that cling to my back, itches! But it could be my imagination for I had taken a few shots of firewhiskey earlier, just as a curiosity.  
I wasn't drunk but wasn't sober either. I had my judgement, it's just all my emotions were heightened. So, after a few relaxing moments in my room I made my way back to the party. As I descended, I noticed someone move in my peripheral sight. I turned my attention toward it and saw in the corner end of the landing, Sirius with a girl.  
It was like somebody had hit me with a bat and knocked off all of the air from my lungs. The scene itself made me hard to breathe. Repulsed, I darted down from its vicinity. _'_ _Why….'_ I thought. _'_ _How can he do this…'_ in these few days, I had bonded with Sirius even more, and even without my knowledge, my liking toward him had increased. I had forgotten what playboy he was and for few moments I thought that he liked me back. _'_ _He was always like this. So, why is it that I'm feeling so bad?'_ I felt raged. Not toward Sirius but toward myself. Determined to erase that memory, I took shots of firewhiskey from the adult table and chugged down my throat. The mere burning of the throat as the drink trickled down, felt good. Like drinking my anger itself. Luckily, nobody noticed me and my act, so I took another one and mixed it in my butterbeer and marched outside like nothing happened. I rejoined Lily, Mar and Alice, they provided me a loving company that I was craving most, at that time.  
Slight dizziness started engulfing me, so I excused myself for a moment to get some cool air.  
"Hey… what are you doing here, all alone?"  
I turned to face Remus approaching me. I smiled at him.  
"Nothing… I just wanted some fresh air."  
A sudden rush of dizziness surrounded me again. _'_ _Damn… why the hell did I had to drink through my anger. I didn't thought of the consequences.'_ I straightened myself, trying not to show that I'm losing my balance.  
"Arty. . . I need to tell you something."  
He took a slow step toward me. I tried to focus all my attention in not swaying off my position. Firewhiskey had started taking a toll on me. I closed my eyes for a few seconds, praying not to do anything stupid, and waited.  
"Arty…"  
I opened my eyes, to see Sirius standing in front of me. I got confused, thinking, from where did he came in front of me.  
"Go out me."  
"….but we are already out. How much further 'out' you wanna go?" I said, trying to comprehend the meaning of his sentence but got more lost when I saw his 'Are you kidding me?' reaction.  
"Not the literal meaning! I am asking you to _go out_ with me. I mean… I am falling for you…" he added quietly.  
"Falling? From where?" Firewhiskey had lastly taken all my thought process.

"Ughh… so you are doing it the hard way then…" he said, his patience running out. "Alright then… how about this…" and with that he stepped up forward, and kissed her.  
It was like fireworks. No, actual fireworks lit up at that moment. The New Year had begun.  
The longing, the wanting, the passion, all was poured in that one kiss by Remus. Remus dreaded if she pulled out, it was over for him. But she kissed him back with equal passion. Elated, Remus entwined his arms around her waist to deepen the kiss. She agreed to it and reciprocated.  
Remus had not felt his emotions this strong before. As they parted, heaving for air, he looked like the happiest person in the world.  
"I love –"  
"I love you, Sirius." Artemis said and collapsed into Remus's arms.


	16. Exchange of Emotions

'I love Sirius'.

Her words echoed through my head over and over. _'Did I heard it wrong?'_ no. It can't be.  
 _But now is not the time._  
I stumbled a little to maintain my balance as Artemis collapsed into my arms.  
Is she drunk?  
Did she assumed me to be Padfoot? Did she kissed me thinking I was Padfoot?  
 _'_ _Now is seriously not the time Moony!'_ I corrected my thoughts.  
I supported her with my one hand while trying to get my wand with the other. _I have to call Prongs or Padfoot or Wormtail. Anyone of them. If anybody sees me with an unconscious girl like this, it will create a scene. But how –_  
Just then, Prongs and Padfoot appeared by my side. It seemed they noticed Artemis to be unconscious.  
"Prongs, Padfoot! Thanks Merlin… Arty collapsed...just now…"  
"Yeah, we saw it… actually." James said, guiltily.  
"Why did she collapsed? Did something happened to her?" Sirius asked, anxiously. Suddenly he gasped, "Prongs! Is this like that Christmas time… we need to lie her down."  
"I think… she passed out because of alcohol." Both of them turned to stare at me.  
"How can you possibly know that?" Sirius asked.  
"Umm… I tasted… firewhiskey in her… umm… when I … kissed her before she collapsed." It was hard to look at Sirius as I remembered her 'confession'.  
"Oh… " A sadness crept on his face. It made me realize that probably he also saw me kissing her. A guilt feeling surged through my heart, thinking what I had done and what consequences it would result in.  
Focusing back to our current situation, I asked, "We need to get her upstairs without getting noticed. If anybody sees us, it would create problem for Mr. and Mrs. Potter."  
"I have my Invisibility cloak." James said, taking out a supple piece of fabric. "Use it."  
"You have your cloak with you now?" Sirius questioned, suspiciously, for which James merely shrugged.

We took Artemis to her room using invisibility cloak. It was hard not to be seen when you are carrying a person, but we managed somehow. Lily, Marlene and Alice were searching for Artemis and were started to get suspicious but James concocted some kind of a lie and took care of it. After that even Mrs. Potter didn't seemed to mind when we told her that we're turning in for the night. Pettigrew joined us later as we were channeling through the crowd to get upstairs.  
"So, you and Arty, huh?" Sirius said.  
 _How shall I explain them what actually happened? Ugh, it's getting complicated…_  
"You are dating Artemis? Since when?!" Pettigrew asked suddenly, surprised.  
"No!" I said almost instantly. "It's not like that. We… we just kissed."  
"But didn't she said _something_ after that?"  
"She collapsed just after she…" _I can't say it. Be it my selfishness, but I can't tell them what she actually said._ "…after we parted."  
"I think we should turn in for the night." James said, after a long silence. The other three agreed as they left Artemis's room to theirs'. Pettigrew decided to stay over after the incident, since I was spending the night here anyway.  
"Moony! Share my room for the night. Wormtail can bunk with Padfoot. Is that okay?" James insisted as soon as we reached the floor above.

* * *

"So… that was sudden. I didn't knew you fancied Arty?" James said, when he and Remus were alone in his room. _'_ _So that's why you wanted me to bunk with you. I anticipated that.'_ Remus thought.  
"I do." He admitted.  
"Since when…?"  
"Since she accepted me for who I am."  
James didn't knew what to say. He couldn't decide which side to take. Earlier, he saw the expression on Sirius's face when he saw Artemis kiss Remus back, he looked petrified.  
"So, what now? Will you two be dating or…?"  
"I don't know… I haven't heard her answer yet." Remus said, slumping down in his temporary bed. "For what I know, she'll forget the whole thing the coming morning." James narrowed his eyes, looking confused. "…she was under the influence of Firewhiskey. I doubt she'll remember anything."  
"We'll see about that in the morning."

* * *

Artemis woke up with her mouth dry like a desert. Lifting her body like a zombie, she extended her arm to reach out for a glass of water and drained down the entire glass in one breath. Out of habit, she squinted her sleepy eyes to check the time. _'_ _6 o'clock… are you fucking kidding me. My head feels like it is gonna explode and I snaps up this early!'_  
Cursing, she went back to her bed to snatch some more sleep. She tossed and turned but still found herself wide awake. Still feeling like a shit, she gave up trying sleeping again and dragged herself off her bed to freshen up. She took her time with a long hot bath which made her feel like human again. Stepping out of the bathroom, she entered straight in to the walk-in closet to get ready for the day. Just in that moment, she heard a soft knock on her door. Wondering who could be knocking this early, she called out to come inside whoever it was.  
It was Remus Lupin who came inside. On finding the room empty, he called out.  
"Artemis?"  
"Just a moment. I'm in here." he heard.  
Getting an idea on where she was, he walked in and took a seat on the empty dressing chair.  
"You're up so early?"  
"Yeah, not sure why though…" Artemis stepped out fully dressed, however her hair still dripped water occasionally. She smiled at Remus as she approached him.  
"Happy New Year!" she said, hugging him lightly.  
"Happy New Year to you too. Here." Remus forwarded the cup he brought for her. "This is Peppermint tea. It is supposed to be good against hangovers."  
"Oh. Thanks."  
There was silence as Artemis took her seat on her bed, sipping the tea. She glanced at Remus's direction, trying to remember her conversation with him last night.  
 _He looks awkward…I remember him talking to me last night. But I don't remember how it ended… actually… I don't remember anything after that. Holy mother of… what had I done last night?!_  
Her tea cup shivered along with her body when she anticipated the worst possible outcome. Did she made a huge scene at the party? How did she even end up here at her bedroom? Did someone brought her here…?  
She glanced again toward Remus.  
 _He knew that I was drunk last night. That's why he brought the tea for me. So, he must know what happened last night._  
"Umm…"  
Remus's head turned toward her as she voiced. A hint of eagerness flashed on his face when his eyes met hers'. Artemis felt something tugged inside her as soon as their gaze connected. She remembered the warmth of his gaze… his soft expression… his gentle touch on her lips….  
She gasped.  
 _"_ _Holy mother of –"_ she whispered. Now that he was in front of her, she remembered the incident from the last night. She remembered that Remus confessed to her, she remembered that they kissed last night, and she also remembered confessing to Remus that she loved Sirius.  
Holy shit.  
Artemis expression changed as she recovered all the details of the last night, embarrassment written all over her face. She quickly withdrew her gaze as she shifted uncomfortably at her spot. She felt mortified for acting like a jealous teenage girl, drinking without restraint and blacking out later.  
Remus caught on her expression, inferring that she recalled the last night incident by her sudden self-consciousness. Determined to break the tension he taunted, "So…. Care to explain me what pushed you so much that you decided to drink the whole guest's quota of firewhiskey."  
The sudden question from Remus took Artemis by surprise, but the casual tone of the question made her stiff self, relax a bit. She laughed at herself, her deeds and Remus's way of questioning her. She laughed and laughed; it relieved her from her embarrassment, it made her feel light.  
"I'm so stupid. Aren't I?" she said, as she ceased laughing.  
"What do you mean?"

For the next fifteen minutes, Artemis explained her story: how she saw Sirius with another girl, how jealousy took over her and she ended up drinking the gallon down her throat. She had already confessed about Sirius to him, so she thought she might as well tell the whole story to him.  
"I know I am being a bitch, whining in front of you…." Artemis said after a long pause succeeding her story. "Remus, I am sorry I didn't feel the same way and I'm sorry for the kiss last night–"  
"No." Remus interrupted. Hearing her feelings toward his best friend, made him somewhat defiant. "Don't apologize for the kiss. Even though I know that you kissed me under the influence of firewhiskey, I would like to think that you reciprocated to _my_ kiss because _I_ kissed you."  
The sheer confidence in Remus's voice made even Artemis doubt her emotions. It made her play the memory of last night, inside her head again. She remembered how when Remus confessed to her, she pictured him as Sirius. Or did she knew he was Remus somewhere at her subconscious level?


	17. Jealousy and Rumors

Sirius was grumpy. This morning he woke up with an awful feeling in his stomach, but this feeling had nothing to do with the amount of alcohol he consumed the other night. He had never felt anything like this before. When he saw Remus and Artemis together, something opened inside him. That was the moment he finally came face to face with his emotions. The very same emotion that, until this time, he had failed to understand.  
But he can't do anything now. It looked pretty clear what Artemis and Remus wanted. He hated to admit but that was one passionate kiss. He can tell.  
"Well… look who's here!" Sirius announced. "It's our very own hot couple!" _They are still together. How could Moony expect us to believe that 'that kiss' was just a New Year's kiss?_  
Remus rolled his eyes to Sirius's dramatic announcement as he and Artemis entered the kitchen for breakfast. Well, it was bound to happen, he thought, given that Sirius had seen them kissing each other even though he later denied, saying it was just a New Year kiss.  
" –Now that you are a 'couple', don't go forgetting us. You could have come down, have breakfast with us at least." Sirius continued with the teasing.  
"Guys, like I said before, we are not going out. We are not a 'couple'. Stop grinding it." Remus said with a sigh.  
Before Sirius could reply back, James quickly addressed Artemis, "Arty, how are you feeling?"  
"Not that great. I had a hangover tea though." She smiled weakly as she motioned toward the cup that she was holding.  
"By the way, Happy New Year guys!" Peter called, abruptly, trying to be perky but only got a response from James, and nods and grunts from the other three.  
"So, like every year, I still haven't got a New Year greeting from Lily." James said, voicing his woes, trying to avoid the teasing from Sirius. He is awfully quiet this morning, James thought.  
"Why are you lying to us?" Sirius said out of the blue. He said so quietly that they had to strain their ears to grasp his every words.  
Artemis looked appalled. "Sirius, what are you–"  
"I can see it in your eyes. You are not that good of a liar. I know there is something you aren't telling me." He accused her. Remus shifted uncomfortably in his chair. For some reason, Sirius was only directing his annoyance towards Artemis. The other two marauders were just watching them dumbfounded at the sudden occurring argument.  
"Like I told you it was nothing–"  
"Oh stop denying it. I saw both of you. There's no such thing called 'a kiss that don't mean anything'." Sirius said indignantly. "The point is, why aren't you telling me the truth? Aren't I your friend?" ' _So why the hell they are lying to me?'_  
This comment made her remember the last night's scene featuring Sirius and that girl. _'_ _no such thing called 'A kiss that don't mean anything'.'_ It filled Artemis with same anger and jealousy. And it was the same jealousy that made her say, "I think you are right. If you want to think that way, go ahead!"  
Remus choked on his tea, astound, to hear Artemis's sudden declaration. The same declaration made Sirius go rigid for an infinitesimal moment that nobody noticed. He had seen the kiss shared between her and Remus last night, deep inside him, he didn't believed it but now when he heard Artemis accepting it with his own ears, it felt like his heart had sunk down into the earth.  
He stood up and mustering a smile on his face, said, "Congrats then." And stormed out.  
Remus was bewildered at the sudden turn of events. Determined to know the truth behind Artemis's sudden change of mind, he quickly reached up to her and while pulling her toward the living room, he quickly addressed his other friends, "Excuse us for a moment."

"Where did that come from?" Remus whisper-yelled to Artemis. He had taken Artemis to a secluded corner of the living room.  
Artemis was nearly in tears but still trembling with anger. "I don't know, I blabbered. I am so angry right now... with what Sirius said…and the scene when he was with that girl kept coming in front of my eyes…. I wanted to say something just to get back at him." She confessed quietly.  
"Oh dear…" Remus sighed, his fingers combing through his sandy hair in tension.

* * *

"Padfoot, stop!"  
"What?!"  
"What was that for?" James questioned him.  
"What was what for?"  
James sighed exasperatedly. "Out there in the kitchen! _That's_ what I am asking. You literally stomped out of the kitchen."  
Sirius huffed loudly. "I was just asking her the truth."  
"You nearly yelled at her, Patfoot!" Sirius didn't replied. He just stared somewhere diagonal from James. When he said nothing in reply, James sighed again, ' _Why don't you just admit it',_ he thought.  
"Why did you do it?" he asked Sirius calmly this time.  
"Like I said–"  
"No! The truth Padfoot." He cut him in the middle of his sentence and looked him straight in the eye. "…just admit that you were jealous."  
"What?" Sirius eyes went wide in surprise. His eyes showed a mixture of emotions- 'How did he knew?' 'Me! Jealous?' were some questions he wanted to ask; disbelief and a demand to know how he knew with a little fear of getting his emotions exposed lingered somewhere in his stormy grey eyes. He came in peace with his feelings inside him but accepting it aloud and that to in front of someone, was totally something that he wasn't expecting to do. Not now at least.  
He stared back at James's eyes- trying to find if he was just taking a blind shot at this. _'_ _He knows.'_ Sirius internally gasped, when he saw the confidence in his eyes. _'_ _How could he have known already?! Even I realized about this just yesterday!'_  
"Padfoot? You okay? You haven't said anything in five minutes…."  
"Bloody hell…." Sirius cursed quietly. "So that's what this is… I was jealous."  
James gave a wide grin thinking that finally he had the realization and that his grumpiness would come down a little. Smirking teasingly, he said, "So, now do you accept that you were upset because Artemis kissed Remus and not because some truth you thought they were hiding?"  
As soon as the sentence escaped James's mouth, he regretted saying it as he saw Sirius's expression hardened, again. "This is not some baseless jealousy. I know what I saw. Didn't you saw the…" his gritted his teeth, "intensity."  
James remembered the last night conversation with Remus. _'_ _He is not wrong with the intensity part at least. Moony indeed told me that he likes her. But if he says now that there is nothing between them then it should be true. Did that mean Artemis turned him down? Or did she not remember it at all? Either way, I have to clear it out with him. Ugh… Its getting way too complicated for a love story…'_  
"You should trust in your friend's words." James had nothing more to say other than this on the topic.

* * *

The holidays soon ended amidst all the misunderstandings and confusion, making the students come to their school despite their unwillingness. The same goes for the three certain fifth years who were currently in the Potter mansion. School was gonna start soon and that only meant one thing, homework load. The Christmas and the New Year had distracted them so much that they had forgotten to complete their homework assigned to them. It all came to their attention when they had started packing one day before their return.  
"Aaaaarrrrgggghhhhh"  
A panic stricken scream rung throughout the mansion. Almost all the members of the house got alarmed by the sudden scream and ran toward the origin of it. Both Mr. and Mrs. Potter along with their son and Sirius barged inside the girl's room, ready to counter whatever had been going on. The scene in front of them confused them even more in addition to the scream: in front of them was Artemis, on her knees, her hands were on her head, clutching her hair tightly as if trying to yank it off.  
"What happened?" "Who attacked?" "Artemis dear, are you alright?"  
Artemis slowly turned her head toward the concerned voices, with terror in her eyes. Her voice hoarse from the scream earlier, she spoke, "Homework…. I forgot to complete it."

* * *

"What do I do… what do I do?" Artemis paced back and forth across her room, twisting her fingers in anxiety. Not far from her, on her bed, sat Prongs and Padfoot of the Marauders with a grave look on their face. Although they had never been concerned about their homwork and the detention leading to it before, they were quite scared compared to the earlier times. Why? Because this time Professor McGonagall had clearly given instruction to the appearing O.W.L. year that she would not bear any slack and tardiness from now on that the exams are almost at the door step. That was the reason behind Artemis's sudden scream.  
"We have almost…" She glanced at her wrist watch, "…twenty one hours before the train leaves tomorrow."  
She then looked toward her other two friends. "You have done your homework right? You both can help me, right?" She asked urgently.  
"Well…."  
"Oh, come on…." She sunk down on the floor hearing their answer.  
"McGonagall will be damn pissed." James responded. "…I can't believe we didn't even remembered to do it on the first place till now."  
"I remember we talked about doing it after Christmas…"  
"…ah that time… we ended up playing in the snow after that. Ooh, that snowball fight… that was a blast! We played for hours…"  
"Guys, what should we do now?" Artemis interrupted their reminiscing.  
"Well… not that I'm eager to do any homework but I would rather avoid the wrath of McGonagall this time." Sirius started. "So…I propose we should efficiently divide our work with the time and the urgency of the homework. Meaning…"  
"I get it!" Artemis said, jumping back on her feet, as she pulled out her Diary. "Let's see… First we have Transfiguration, the first class after the opening of the school. It will be our first priority. Then, Potions the next day, making it our next priority. The others are due on their respective day of the classes. This way we'll have some more hours to complete the other assignment!"  
"That's the solution!" James beamed and high-fived the other two.  
"So let's get started then…"  
This sudden crisis occurred at the perfect time. Due to this crisis, the earlier stagnation between Sirius and Artemis, melted away. The short spree of not talking to each other finally ended. They forgot their differences and were back being chirpy, quirky and silly together.

* * *

The journey to the Hogwarts was somewhat peaceful due to their 'Homework Crisis Plan'. At least Remus was not reprimanding them for their inattentiveness toward their studies. It was a typical journey with James asking Lily out again and getting shot down then and there, conversing and exchanging New Year wishes with other friends, Artemis, again, sprinting back and forth between compartments of Lily and James, and with lots and lots of sweets.  
"Ahh… I seriously need to stop eating so much sweets. My stomach has started sticking out!" Artemis whined while petting her stomach softly. "Mrs. Potter literally had me forced down to eat, saying, 'I'm not eating enough for my age'."  
"Well, I agree with Mrs. Potter in this. I mean, look at you." Marlene said, gesturing the whole of Artemis, "you are so tiny! People can easily confuse you for a third year."  
"Hey! I eat my nutrients! It's not my problem that I don't grow that fast." Artemis declared, then almost at the same time she sighed, changing her mood starkly. "Actually it is. It is my problem. Do I really look that small? I mean, I know I am 5'3'' but–"  
"Actually, it's the whole package. Not only your height but your hairstyle…" Lily said, shaking her head disapprovingly.  
"Your excitement in every little thing…"  
"The way you hop your alternate steps…" Alice said, cringing her nose.  
"Yeah... you don't act your age."  
Artemis looked from Lily to Marlene to Alice, frantically at their comments. She began pouting as they listed almost her every trait. Seeing Artemis's antics, all the others started laughing.  
"Oh who are we kidding, you are adorable this way." Alice said, hugging her tightly from sideways.  
"I hate you guys." Artemis mumbled while a smile crept on her lips.

(Meanwhile at the Marauders)  
"I'll go change first."  
Sirius stood up from his seat and grabbed his bundle of his uniform to get changed as he drifted out of the compartment. He was feeling exhausted already, confirming his lack of motivation to rejoin school. Even the game of exploding snap made less of an impact on him. As he made his way up to the restroom, he heard Artemis's name being whispered to someone, coming out from a compartment.  
" –Artemis who?"  
"That transfer student from Salem, remember?"  
"Oh yeah, I remember."  
"I heard she started dating Remus Lupin. That Gryffindor prefect."  
"Seriously? When? It's only been two months since she came here!"  
"I know right! It seems, Venessa had seen them kissing at the New Year's party. I heard from someone who had heard from Venessa, personally."  
"I have always seen her with one or the other Marauder! What a whore. I bet she had been trying to snatch him up since her first day."  
"Are you sure? I have seen her with Sirius Black many times. I thought they were hooking up or something."  
"What is she thinking..." the girl jeered. "Getting too close to Sirius Black. Don't she know, he is not her's to begin with."  
"Huh… Like I said, she is such a whore, anything is possi–"  
At that moment, the door of the compartment banged open. The girls who were gossiping, shrieked in surprise. There stood Sirius Black, still clutching his uniform, seething in anger. If looks could kill, the girls would have been dead hundred times over.  
"S-Si- Sirius Black. What a surprise! Do…you… want anything?" A girl from the left stuttered, dreading if or not he had heard what they have been gossiping.  
There was a pause. A chilling pause. Since Sirius banged opened the door, he hadn't uttered a word. Just his glare was enough. The girls waited holding their breath, for something to happen. One girl, who managed to muster some courage, asked, "Sirius, why don't you sit with –"  
"Don't." was the only word he uttered, making the girl shut up in her track. He slammed the door the same way he opened it and stormed away as far as he could from those wretched girls.


	18. Bad Mood

Sorry! I have not abandoned this story! I have been pretty busy lately plus was not getting inspiration for writing. That's why this chapter is kind of short. Don't worry, i'll be getting my gears up in no time... I want to finish this story as much as you do. (I have even imagined how the story will end.) Just give me time... I will update, but it will be a bit slow :)

* * *

"Look who we have here? It's Black!"  
Sirius, whose head was still in the conversation that he eavesdropped moments ago, didn't noticed the group of slytherins that he passed by on his way back to his compartment. On getting no reaction from Sirius, the boy who commented on him, barked once again.  
"I'm talking to you, you traitor black!"  
This time, his taunt reached Sirius's ears. He stopped to turn back and face them, a dark smirk etched upon his face. He promptly pulled out his wand even before he was face to face with the slytherin bunch. His decision of drawing out his wand proved to be useful as the other party had already three wands pointed at him. His still seething eyes bored right at them, looking more hostile at this sudden engage.  
"Avery, stop your yapping. I'm already in a bad mood. Don't push your luck or you'll be hexed into a blabbering mass of slug before you even think about retaliating." He growled.  
The comment seemed to egg Avery more. "Bad mood already? Didn't get any chance to bully someone? Or do you need permission from your dear Potter for every little actions-–"  
Sirius would have hexed Avery and his two lackeys had it not been for Artemis coming out of her compartment with Lily. Concerns flooded his emotions as he thought of Artemis and the awful rumor he had just heard. Avery too noticed the shift of Sirius's focus resting somewhere at the back travelling straight through him. He traced Sirius's line of sight, wanting to find who stole his focus away from him. He snorted loudly when he saw Artemis on the other end of the sight.  
"So that new girl actually did a number on you all, didn't she?"  
This comment brought Sirius again face to face with Avery.  
Sirius was in no mood to hear any more of his taunts as well as was hell bent to keep any of these seep through and reach Artemis. _'_ _If she hears, only Merlin knows how she would react…'_  
"Shut your pie hole Avery or I swear to Godric –"  
"No dueling in the train!" Came a shrill voice not so far away from the scene. It was obvious whose voice it was. "Avery, Patterson, Kerby and…." Lily looked at the opposite side only to find, "…and Black."  
"I know, I know. We are just having a little talk." Trying to sound in his usual casual tone.  
"Perfect timing!" Avery added, voice filled with malice. "We were talking about you actually. About how you had made yourself a harem of good fu –"  
"Langlock!" A spell came shooting off Sirius's wand, gluing the tongue and barring Avery from finishing his words. It took a few seconds to register through the Slytherin's head what had actually happened. As Avery noticed what had gone wrong with him, a sense of panic and fury rose from him making him cast a hex toward Sirius. A weak non-verbal spell shot from his wand aiming at Sirius but was easily blocked off.  
"Ah! There you are Padfoot! We have been wondering where did you actually went in the name of changing uniform." Remus showed up out of nowhere behind Sirius.  
"Having fun without us?" James voice chimed beside him with a devilish grin plastered to his handsome face. "…and that too with Evans and Arty as spectators!" He winked at Lily and Artemis. ('We are not spectators!' Lily protested while Artemis laughed.)  
Truthfully said, Sirius had never been this relieved by seeing his friends appear beside him while facing a bunch of slytherins. Now at least he would have some cover for steering off any conversation (more like taunting and jeering) that slytherins might throw towards Artemis if it was remotely related to the rumor.  
"Couldn't wait for you guys. These snakes here…" gesturing toward the three baffled slytherins, who were now trying to undo the anti-speech spell that Sirius had casted, "were too excited to get a piece of me." Sirius said with a smile that could have made girls swoon at their spot.  
"Sirius Black!" _Oh no. Nearly forgot about the problem Prefect._ Sirius turned to face Lily. "… and Potter! You all have made your life's mission to break rules. Especially when I'm around! Don't think for a second that I will not dock off points from you! Don't ever think that I will not give detentions to you! Because I will!" now looking directly at Remus. "You are a Prefect Remus! At least you should render some sense on these gits." (James: "What did I do!")  
Before Remus could say anything, she continued, "…and since you are not doing anything, I'm going to set your friends in for a detention. This Saturday! Come on Temi." And with that declaration, Lily took off, dragging Artemis with her. Artemis, who originally wanted to spend the rest of the journey with the marauders, did not protested, but shrugged and mouthed 'Sorry, talk to you later at the feast.' and let Lily drag her back to their compartment.  
After returning back to their compartment, James finally asked, "So, what had actually happened out there?"  
Sirius's face darkened on hearing James's question. He plopped on the seat beside Peter and stared darkly on the opposite side. "You won't believe what I just heard these girls talking about."


End file.
